Star Crossed
by lookaliveerin
Summary: Marceline was alone, defenceless and had lost all hope of surviving until she was welcomed by a group of strangers to safety. Will she alter any of our characters' lives? Can she help the others to live? [Season 1]
1. Survivors

**A/N:** So I love this game and decided to write this. It's going to stick to the general plot of the game (Season 1), except with additional characters. Please review if you can, as I'd love to know what people think and how I can improve before I post the rest! Thank you very much for deciding to read this!

**Warnings**- It's going to contain some violence and language, obviously, but nothing more than what happens in the game, so if you've played that then I doubt it'll be a problem.

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own The Walking Dead Game, and I'm just writing this for fun, I'm not gaining anything from it.**

* * *

><p>The dark veil of night covered me as I silently walked the city streets of Macon. It was practically deserted. In a way, my isolation from humanity made me feel like I would just surrender to a walker if one of them found me. I'd lost all hope of being saved, of surviving the damn apocalypse that had already taken so much from me in such a little time. The bitter breeze stung my skin, and I wrapped myself further into my red, zip-up hoodie, pulling the hood up over my long, wavy blonde hair that was tied back in a ponytail.<p>

I looked down an alley way between buildings. I didn't know what I was looking for really. Maybe I hoped I'd find some survivors, walkers, a weapon, food or even shelter. It didn't matter. I kept on walking.

A shatter of glass in the distance made me jump in fright. Walkers would be nearby, then. I knew sound drew them in, which meant something would have caught their attention for them to break the glass. Maybe they were chasing humans. Hell, they'd probably already caught them.

Still, I was intrigued. I walked quicker towards the sound, the low growls of walkers filling my ears.

"Did you find them yet?" A voice called.

I stopped in my tracks, blue eyes wide with panic, confusion and excitement. Survivors. Though, if they carried on shouting like that, they wouldn't be alive much longer. I rushed to the voice until I spotted a drugstore. There were two people I could see, accompanied by a lot of walkers that were intensely watching a few TVs. I raised an eyebrow. What a strange sight. I ran forward to an abandoned truck in the road and hid behind it, watching the humans. One guy was holding an axe, crouched down on the ground in front of a walker that was trapped under a fallen post. The man was moving his mouth like he was talking to the monster. What the hell?

The man raised the axe, an expression of pain and guilt evident on his face. I resisted the urge to throw up at the sight of the man chopping the walker's head off. It was disgusting, but the expression on the man's face made it seem even worse. He didn't want to do it.

The man sadly looked down at the walker on the ground after hitting it once, and I took that as my signal. I didn't want to rush to it, but I needed their help. God, it was probably insane to be going up to a man in the streets who had an axe while I was entirely defenceless and there were walkers a few steps away. The walker on the ground growled, throwing a hand up, and the man stumbled back. I paused.

The axe came down again, more times than once. I kept walking closer, terrified but also feeling like I could trust the man, who then kneeled back down and picked something up from the walker that now had a split in its skull.

The man waved the small, silver item towards the gate, where the other man had a smile on his face. The man with the item then turned his head, his gaze meeting mine. He narrowed his eyes, studying me, before he relaxed his muscles and softened his eyes.

"Are you bit?" He asked me in a hushed whisper.

I shook my head.

"Alone?"

I nodded.

"We have survivors inside, you can-"

"Holy crap!" The man at the gate suddenly shouted, his eyes fixed on the walkers ahead. "Run!"

The man with the axe waved his arm as if for me to follow before he ran to the gate. My legs picked up speed and I raced after him, entering the large gate as the other man closed it. The three of us entered the building and shut the door behind us.

"Man, that was close," the light haired man breathed heavily.

"Yeah, but we did it," the other with the axe replied, his voice sounding pained. He turned to me as I stood there with wide eyes, taking in the sight of the other survivors who now watched me with various expressions.

"What's your name?" He asked, diverting my attention back to him.

"Marceline," I stuttered.

"I'm Lee," he said, reaching a blood stained hand out. I looked at it for a second, then he withdrew it in understanding.

I forced a small smile.

"I'm Doug," the other man smiled.

"It's nice to meet you both." I tucked my hands into my sleeves.

"Who's this?" A short haired woman asked.

"This is Marceline," Lee told her. "We were gonna get attacked by those walkers, so she should stay with us, at least for a while."

"I'm Carley," she said to me. "Hey, why don't you try help me with this radio?"

I nodded my head nervously and joined her while Lee went off to talk to a dark haired girl and a man who sat on the floor.

"How old are you?" Carley asked, studying the radio like it was the most complicated device in the world.

"Seventeen," I replied. "Want me to take a look?"

She passed me the radio and smiled a bit. "I'm no good with these things."

I flipped the batteries around and pressed the power button, switching the radio on.

"The estimated death toll continues the sky rocket," the radio announced. "WABE urges you to stay indoors, and avoid any contact with individuals you expect may have been exposed."

I glanced at Carley who returned a slightly worried face before the reporter began to speak more rushed and the station sounded like it was breaking. Were those screams I could hear?

"God bless you all, God bless the United states of Amer-"

Carley stared at the radio which went silent.

I opened my mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a loud ringing coming from the building. Everybody began rushing around frantically as the alarm rang from the pharmacy.

Carley ran to her bag and began loading a gun. A woman spoke to a small boy with a panicked tone while another man with a moustache fired orders out to everybody. He looked at me as if confused.

"I'll help with the door," I told him, throwing myself at it to help Doug, Carley and another person who was soon replaced by Lee.

The door lifted and jolted from the force of the walkers on the other side who were determined to get to us. My heart raced. Doug, Carley and Lee began having quick exchanges about what each other should know since they might not make it out alive.

"Will you guys shut up?" I yelled. "There's no time to be thinking like that! Keep this goddamn door shut!"

Suddenly, there was a crash and walkers began to flood into the building. Carley ran to the danger, firing her gun at the undead.

"Clementine, can you look for something to stick in between the handles? Something real strong, okay?" Lee asked a little girl in a baseball hat and a dress.

"Okay!" She replied, going to look around.

There was a heavy force and the door broke through. I shrieked and pushed back on it with Lee and Doug, struggling as we were one person short.

"Clementine, did you find anything?" Lee shouted, his eyes giving away how panic-stricken he was.

"Nothing... Oh wait!" Clementine ran out of the room and into another.

"That window is screwed!"

"Go!" Lee instructed, and Doug did as he was told.

I looked at Lee with worried eyes as the door was ready to burst open.

"I found something!"

The man took the cane that the little girl held and shoved it through the door handles, restricting the door's movement.

Suddenly, there were screams and shouts coming from both Doug and Carley.

I stared in horror at Doug, who was being pulled backwards through the window, and then to Carley who was out of bullets for her gun, with walkers dangerously close and one grabbing her ankle. Clementine looked terrified, Lee looked conflicted, and I was frozen.

Everything went in slow motion. Lee ran to Carley and passed her the ammo for the gun. I watched briefly before I turned on my heels and flew to Doug's rescue. I was too slow. The hands holding him forced his body backwards and out of the window. Clementine screamed, Doug cried in pain, and I let out a small gasp.

"Let's go!" The man who earlier was passing out instructions appeared in the other doorway. We went to make our escape.

* * *

><p>The cars were silent. Nobody dared speak on the journey to the motel, despite the fact there were a lot of things on our minds.<p>

I climbed out of the car alongside everybody else. There were no smiles, no bright eyes, no enthusiastic voices. Even the two kids were quiet. It made everything worse seeing them sad.

I walked over to Lee who was stood alone while everybody else went their own way.

Lee was examining a torn photograph in his hands, and I felt rude to interrupt but did so anyway.

"I want to thank you."

He quickly lowered it and looked at me. "It's no problem. Are you okay?"

I shrugged my shoulders, my face showing how miserable I felt. "Are you?"

Lee shook his head once. "It doesn't matter."

I bit my lip, wanting to ask more questions. "What's the picture?"

Lee tensed up. "Just a picture of the family that owned the drugstore."

"Why'd you keep it?" I raised an eyebrow.

He opened his mouth, then shut it again. He sighed before deciding to speak after a long silence. "They were my family."

"Oh," I felt my heart sink. "I'm sorry, Lee. I shouldn't have asked."

"It's okay." He put the picture in his pocket.

"Lee?" I couldn't help myself. "Is your daughter okay with all of this? I mean, she just saw.. she just saw Doug get ripped apart by the undead."

"Clementine isn't my daughter," he began, his tone suggesting that he wanted to be careful about what he told me. "We were both alone. Her parents went on a trip to Savannah and haven't come back... I don't think they made it. The babysitter she was left with was a walker when I found her. I killed it, but Clem saw the whole thing."

"Wow," I gasped. "Poor girl."

"She's brave," he stated, turning to watch her. The girl with the dark hair was piling dead walkers up while Clementine stood and observed. "That girl's called Lilly."

"I see. And the guy glaring at you?" I nodded my head slightly in the direction of the man who'd earlier been on the floor.

"Larry, her dad. The guy with the moustache is Kenny, his wife is Kat and their kid is Duck," Lee explained.

I nodded my head before jumping at the sound of gunshots in the distance and lots of screaming.

"I'm gonna go check on Glenn," Lee told me. I forced a brief smile and then he walked off to join the man stood by a pizza delivery car.

I stayed in my position, blankly looking out onto the road ahead. After a few minutes, Glenn's car drove around me and the man left without another word. I wasn't upset. I hadn't even shared any words with him before.

"I saw you tried to save Doug."

I spun and was faced with Carley. "I wasn't quick enough. I could have saved him if I wasn't such an idiot, if I hadn't stood there thinking about it."

"Don't feel guilty," she placed a comforting hand on my shoulder. "Everything happened quickly, there's no use dwelling on the past."

I shrugged.

"I'd ask if you're okay, but that's probably a stupid question to ask in an apocalypse."

"I'm fine. Are you?"

Carley looked unsure. "I think I liked Doug. He saved me... I should have saved him."

"He probably felt the same way," I replied, not even thinking before I spoke.

"I guess it doesn't matter now," she sighed heavily. "So what's your story?"

"My story?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, how'd you end up in Macon alone?"

I tried to change the topic, not wanting to talk about what happened to me. "What's up with that Larry guy? He looks like he hates Lee."

"He's just grumpy. I think Lilly takes after him, be careful what you say around them or they'll snap," she warned me, a small smile on her mouth.

"That little kid- Duck?- he's brightened up since the car journey. It's refreshing to see someone so energetic."

Carley looked over to the young boy who was harassing Clementine with stories.

"Duck is quite... lively."

I smiled, the first genuine one I felt in a while.

"Clementine seems to like Lee," I commented, watching her talk with him when Duck walked away.

Carley made a humming sound in agreement.

"Glenn's gone."

Carley looked a bit sad. "I wish he'd have stayed longer."

"I didn't really know him." I looked back into the road.

"He was nice, I hope he is safe wherever he goes."

"Yeah."

Carley looked over at Lee. "I'm gonna talk to him."

"Okay."

I decided to have a talk with Clementine.

"Hey," I smiled, stopping near her.

"Hello," she smiled back. "You're Marceline, right?"

"Yep, and you're Clementine?" I already knew the answer, but thought I'd be polite.

She nodded. "Are you going to stay with us? Glenn is gone."

I felt bad for her. She looked lonely and confused. "I'd like to, if it's okay with everybody else. I don't want to intrude your group and overstay my welcome."

That seemed a good enough answer for the small girl.

Lee, Kenny and Lilly walked nearby, discussing whether we'd stay at the motel. Clementine and I watched them and they stood on the street, Kenny was speaking enthusiastically, his face showing a slight smile.

Maybe things would be okay.

Then the lights went out.


	2. Motel

**A/N:** Just a quick little thank you to those that followed/favourited this, or even made the decision to read it! It means so much to me!

* * *

><p>Three months dragged by. Nothing new really happened. There wasn't much to do at the motel, and food began to run low. Lee and Carley taught me how to protect myself, my weapon being a screwdriver we found buried in one of the dead walkers. We saved the lessons for going out into the forest opposite the inn where we usually stumbled across a couple of walkers.<p>

I'd decided who I trusted out of the group. Lilly and Larry were bottom of the list. It wasn't that they were horrible to me, more that I disapproved of how they treated everybody else, particularly how Larry was with Lee and Kenny.

I was walking with Kenny through the forest on a hunt for food, while Lee was with Mark, a guy we'd met over the months.

"How much food is left?" I kept my eyes peeled for walkers.

Kenny didn't answer.

"Crap."

"I know," he replied. "We'll find something, even if it's small, as long as you kids get to eat."

"I'm not a kid, Kenny," I hit his arm lightly. Kenny was a good guy. He'd tried to look out for me a lot and I trusted him almost as much as I trusted Lee.

"You're seventeen, which is still a kid," he chuckled and then stopped walking. "Well, would ya look at that."

My mouth turned up into a smile when I saw the creature hopping along the ground. A little rabbit.

"We're gonna have to kill it."

The smile disappeared. "I'm not hungry enough to eat one of those! I had a pet rabbit once. Her name was Fluffy."

Kenny rolled his eyes. "Do ya wanna starve, Marcey?"

"No, but-"

A piercing scream echoed through the forest.

"Lee!" I gasped.

Kenny and I raced through the trees to the location of the scream. I prayed in my head that it wasn't Lee.

We burst out of the trees and into a clearing, spotting Lee and Mark who were looking at two teenage boys and a man on the floor.

"Lee! You guys okay?" Kenny rushed.

"Get it off, get it off! God dammit, get it off me!"

"A bear trap!" My hands flew to my mouth as I saw the man's leg trapped.

"Travis, maybe they can help!" One boy said to the other in a worried voice.

"These might be the same guys that raided our camp, and we barely got away from that!" The other, Travis, shot back.

"Why the fuck is there a bear trap out here?" Kenny asked. I wondered the same thing.

"I don't know, man," the taller boy answered.

"Calm down, you'll attract the walkers if you keep speaking this loud," I snapped before rushing over to the man on the floor.

"Marcey!" Lee ran over to join me protectively while Kenny glared at the two boys in blue and white jackets.

"Was he bitten?" Lee asked.

The taller boy waved his hands around, shaking his head. "Bitten? No, I swear!"

Mark joined my side and examined the bear trap.

"Lee, this trap's been altered, there's no release latch."

I stepped back and out of the way, looking around to see if we were safe.

"Oh no," Travis, the shorter, dark haired boy said.

"Shit, walkers! It's now or never, Lee," Kenny stated.

Panic filled my veins and my breathing suddenly felt difficult.

"Get back!" I yelled at the two boys.

"Pleaaaaase! Get me out of this!" The man in the trap begged.

I looked at Lee who seemed lost. Kenny began firing at the walkers with Mark.

"Shooting is just going to get more of them," I panicked. "Lee, what do we do?"

Lee sensed the fear in my voice. He turned, looking at the herd of walkers that were fast approaching, then turned back at Kenny and Mark who were struggling to shoot them all. He looked at the two boys that stood watching with wide eyes.

"Lee!" I yelled.

The taller boy pleaded desperately. "There's got to be something we can do!"

"I'm going to have to cut you out," Lee told the man in an eerily calm way.

"No, no, no!"

"I'm sorry, we don't have time for that. We have to go!" Kenny fired more shots.

I ran up to Lee, placing my hands on his arms. "We have to go."

Lee looked down at the man, who now just looked like he was beginning to accept his fate.

"Go," the man instructed.

I turned and began to run away, Mark following behind me. Kenny and Lee made the two boys follow as the walkers got closer to the trapped man.

"Nooooooo!" The tall one cried when a walker bit into the man.

Kenny stopped running then aimed it at the man's head, firing and putting him out of the pain while the walkers landed upon him and began tearing him apart.

We arrived back at the motel after a few minutes of walking, the two teenagers walking in the middle of the group.

"What's going on?" Lilly's voice yelled, anger obvious in her tone as we entered the gates with the boys.

"Who the hell are they?" Larry boomed.

Lee pushed me behind him a bit so I was out of the line of fire from the argument.

"Lee, what the hell! You can't just be bringing new people here, what are you thinking?" Lilly raged.

"Hey, you wanna calm down for a fuckin' minute?" Kenny snapped back at her in defence of Lee.

"No, I don't!" She argued. "I want to know why you thought bringing more mouths to feed was a good idea! We are not responsible for every struggling survivor we come across, we've got to focus on our group, right here, right now!"

Carley appeared, speaking up. "Well, hang on. We haven't even talked to these people yet, maybe they can be helpful."

I looked over to the two boys who stood nearby looking nervous and a little bit scared. I walked over and tried to block out the sound of the argument heating up.

"Come on," I said to them. "Let's go over there, the guys will sort Lilly and Larry out. Clem?"

Clementine rushed over and followed as I lead the two boys to the opposite end of the parking lot.

We went over to where Duck sat drawing and Clementine joined in.

I sat down on the hard floor and turned to the two boys.

"I'm Marceline," I greeted them. "I'm sorry about that guy you were with."

"I'm Travis," the darker haired boy replied.

"He was our teacher," the taller one commented, sadness filling his voice.

"He's Ben."

"This is Clementine and Duck," I told them, nodding my head to the two children. Duck was scribbling away at a picture intensely while Clem looked distracted.

I turned my head to see the group separating, everyone walking different ways. Everything had been so much more difficult since the food supply ran low and damn it, I was starving. My stomach made a rumble sound, drawing eyes Travis and Ben to me, but I refused to acknowledge it.

"Maybe it would be best if we leave," Travis whispered to Ben, loud enough for me to hear.

"You can't just leave now," I interrupted before Ben spoke. "This sh- This argument has broken out now, and where else would you go? You realise the city is entirely infected, right?"

Travis looked defeated and looked away.

"Look, I don't know what you've been through, but being in a group makes things a bit more worth living, I think. Loneliness isn't good out here anymore."

"Being in a group does fuck all to your survival!" Travis practically shouted at me.

Clementine and Duck looked up at the outburst.

"Don't swear around them," I replied coldly, deciding to drop the conversation now.

Travis raked a hand through his hair before standing up and walking away, muttering under his breath.

"Sorry about him," Ben apologised. "This whole zombie... It's not been good."

I nodded my head, understanding.

Lee appeared near us after a few minutes, looking from Clementine to me, then to Duck. I noticed the four pieces of food in his hand. Damn.

"Go speak to Lee," I told Clem, who nodded her head and went to talk with him.

I tried not to make it obvious that I was watching, but I was. I knew Lee would give her the food, but just had to make sure.

Clem was given half an apple, and she sat down eating it happily.

"How are you doing, kids?" Lee asked us all.

"Ok!" Duck grinned. "Me and Clementine are colouring."

"Guess what it is?" Clementine held up her drawing.

"I don't know," Ben didn't seem happy to be guessing. "A dog?"

"Nope."

"Oh, I know! It's a goat, right?" Duck asked.

"No!"

"A stripey cat or a tiger?" I guessed.

Clementine smiled at me and nodded her head. "Cat!"

Lee shook his head with a small smile before crouching near Duck.

"Hey Duck, how about a little food?"

Ben's eyes drifted to the food in Lee's hand.

Duck lit up with a huge smile and insanely big eyes. "Yeah! Oh man, I'm so hungry," he happily took the food Lee offered him.

Lee turned to Ben and I. He threw some food to me and I caught it.

"Lee, I can't take this. Someone else will need it more than me," I went to pass it back to him.

"Your stomach would beg to differ," Ben commented.

"Eat," Lee commanded.

I nodded my head and sat back down, opening the food and beginning to eat.

"So, who are you people?" Lee asked Ben. "The group's gonna want to know."

"I'm Ben, Ben Paul," he greeted. "He's Travis. The man trapped back there was the band director at our school. We came down from Stone Mountain for playoffs when... when everything happened."

Lee patted Ben's shoulder. "Have some food."

Ben looked at it before taking it in a bit of a shock. "Thank you."

Lee walked away and went to check out the fence.

Travis sat back down on the floor next to Ben, looking a little more calm than he previously had.

"Lee gave us the last bit of food," Ben told his classmate.

Travis looked at it the same way Ben had. "I'm not hungry."

"Travis, just eat it and be happy Lee gave you it," I sighed.

The boys eventually began sharing the food.

"I'm sorry for how I acted before," Travis spoke up.

I shrugged. "It's cool."

There was silence as the group of us sat eating the food, a slightly awkward one.

And then the fence broke down and five walkers broke through.


	3. Walkers

I dropped the empty box of crackers and hauled Duck and Clem up from the ground, a little bit less softly as I'd intended. Clem let out a small shriek and Duck stumbled over on his feet as I ran with them back to an empty room in the inn, leaving Ben and Travis at a loss for what to do.

I didn't trust them yet, not entirely.

"Keep this door shut, don't open it until one of us get you, okay?" I instructed the children.

"Okay!" They said in unison, and I slammed the door shut.

Ben and Travis were stood where I'd left them, frozen on the spot and confused about what to do.

"Get back there unless you've got something to kill the walkers with!" I shouted at them.

I heard Lee grunt and yell for the axe, as he was entirely weaponless with a walker attacking him.

I darted forward, pulling the screwdriver out of my pocket and striking the walker through the head with it. Lee pushed the dead body off of him and gave me a quick look of thankfulness. I nodded once before diving back into action, fighting the undead that threatened the safety of the group.

It took just a few minutes for us to defeat the walkers.

"Dad, help me make a pile of these bodies," Lilly sighed, brushing her dark hair from her eyes and leaning to drag a walker outside of the fence.

Larry did as his daughter said and followed.

"Good fighting there, kid," Kenny smiled at me, his forehead splashed with a bit of blood.

"Thanks," I replied. "Nobody got bit?"

Everyone checked themselves for bites. Everyone was injury-free.

Kat went to collect the children from the room while Kenny and Mark examined the fence to find a way to keep it up.

"Thanks for that."

I turned to Lee. "No big deal."

"You saved my life, Marcey," he waved his arms a bit to emphasise what he was saying.

"You've done the same for me," I smiled, wiping the blood from the screwdriver on my jeans and putting the weapon back in my pocket.

"And thanks for making sure Clem was safe first."

"Seriously, Lee," I giggled a bit. "It's fine."

He smiled back to me and then to Clementine who was walking back to the group with Kat, Duck, Ben and Travis.

"Guys, this walker doesn't have a bite," Lilly raised an eyebrow.

"She obviously does, it's most likely under her clothes and hidden somewhere," Kenny snapped.

"I don't see how it matters," Travis commented.

"Y'all don't know?"

"Know what?" I asked.

"Seriously?" Travis folded his arms.

"What the hell are you talkin' about?"

"It's not the bite that does it," Ben explained.

"Yeah, we're all gonna turn, no matter how we die," Travis finished Ben's explanation.

"Unless the brain is destroyed?" I asked.

Travis nodded his head.

My heart felt like it'd been ripped out, like I wasn't human at all anymore. How did this happen? Damn. It made no sense, it couldn't be true.

"When we first saw it happen, we were hiding out in a gym and everybody thought we were finally safe," Ben began telling us. "A girl-"

"Jenny Pitcher," Travis confirmed.

"Yeah, her. She couldn't take it, she took some pills. A lot of them."

"They found her in the girls' room the next morning. A few people died," Travis sighed.

Ben looked pained at the story.

I felt a huge lump in my throat and let out a breath that I didn't know I'd been holding. My next breaths ended up raspy and desperate for oxygen. Oh God, I was going to die. I couldn't breathe. I was gonna be a walker.

"Marcey, breathe," Lee told me, looking me in the eyes as I struggled for air.

"Marcey?" Clem asked, sounding worried and scared.

I inhaled deeply. My lungs worked. I was okay.

"You're okay, it's okay," Kat comforted.

I nodded my head. "I'm fine. I just.. I need to lie down."

"I agree, everybody needs a few moments to themselves. This morning has been very stressful for everybody," Kat said.

Lee walked Clem and I back to one of the empty rooms and I climbed onto the bed, curling up in a ball and wrapping my arms around a pillow with my eyes closed.

"Clem, will you stay and watch her? I'll send someone else too," Lee tried to keep his voice down but I heard anyway.

She must have nodded her head, as I didn't hear anything but the door close before I drifted off to sleep.

Screaming.

There was so much screaming.

"Help!"

Doug? It was him. I ran to the sound, seeing him getting torn up by the walkers and screaming for my aid.

"Why won't you save me?" He cried.

"Marcey!"

"Clem?!" I spun around, tears filling my eyes.

"Marceline!"

"Marce!"

"Help me!"

"I'm out of ammo!"

I screamed at the voices, crying for them to stop.

Hands. They grabbed my arms, legs, stomach. Nails as sharp as claws scraped at my skin, tearing it and making crimson blood drip from me. There were stronger hands grabbing my shoulders and then there was a bite. Teeth sunk deep into my neck, ripping the skin from my body and starting to kill me. "NOOOOO!"

The door of the inn burst open, startling me into waking up and rushing my breathing.

"Marceline?" Travis looked helpless about what to do. He half turned so his voice could be heard outside the room. "Carley!"

Travis walked into the room in a bit of a rush, putting his hands out in front of him towards me. "It's okay, breathe."

My body shook as I tried to do as he said. Carley ran into the room and sat down on the bed next to me.

"Copy me," she calmly instructed, breathing in and out big enough that I could see clearly.

I copied her breathing until my own became normal again, then wiped my eyes which were watery and stinging.

"What happened?" She asked when I shut my eyes.

"Nightmares again," I sighed.

Carley put her arms around me and pulled me into a warm hug.

"Is there anything I can do?" Travis suddenly interrupted.

Carley let go and looked at him. "Go get the food basket and then stay with her while I keep watch with Ben."

Travis nodded and left the room.

"Everybody has gone to a farm, two men arrived not long after you fell asleep and took some of us. Ben and I came back with a basket of some food, the others have gone to get a meal."

"Why didn't you wake me? We could have all gone."

Carley shrugged. "I don't think we entirely trust these farmers yet, and we didn't want to lose the motel if something did go wrong."

I nodded in understanding just as Travis came back into the room with the basket.

"I'm gonna go look out with Ben," Carley said, standing up and going to leave the inn. "Eat some of that food, you need it."

I did as Carley said and picked up what was in the basket, eating a piece of it despite how sick I felt. I felt Travis watching me, unsure of what he should be doing.

"I'm not going back to sleep," I told him. "You can leave if you want, I'll be fine here."

Travis looked out of the window. "I think I'll stay, if you don't mind. Ben and Carley look like they're having a deep conversation."

There was a long silence.

"How long has everyone been gone?" I questioned.

"A while, it's kind of dark outside now and it was light when they went there."

If my eyes didn't deceive me, I would have said Travis looked a little concerned at the whereabouts of the group.

"I want to go find them," I stated.

"We've got to stay here and look after the motel," he replied like I was stupid.

"I know that," I snapped. "Two stay here, someone comes with me. It's simple!"

Travis considered it. "Let's ask Carley."

We exited the room and approached Carley and Ben. Ben sat on top of the RV while Carley asked in front of it, keeping her eyes out from a different level.

"Marceline wants to go to the farm," Travis told the pair.

"Two stay, two go," I said before anyone else could speak.

Carley nodded her head. "I think we should go and check up on everyone."

"Travis and Ben, you stay here and guard the motel while Carley and I go."

Ben looked shocked, raising his eyebrows. "I can't fight!"

"We can do it, Ben," Travis told him in a strong voice.

The taller boy just looked from his classmate and back to us.

"Go on," Travis encouraged. "Be careful, we'll keep this place safe."

Carley and I ran out of the motel and to the dairy farm in search of the group.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Thank you for continuing the story! I hate to beg for reviews, but they will really help me to improve the story if I know what people would like to happen. Obviously I already have it all planned, but reader's opinions are going to be considered a lot!

So please leave a little review/opinion and I will be so grateful! Thank you x


	4. Conflict

The rain hammered down from the sky as we approached the farm. It was spooky, calm in a way that looked like a scene from an old horror movie. I missed watching those.

"I hear something in the barn," I whispered to Carley. I don't know why I whispered, but I guess it was something to do with the horrible feeling I had in my stomach.

"You go look there, I'll take the house," Carley commanded.

I nodded my head and, holding my screwdriver tight in my hands, crept up to the barn.

_Bang_.

I rushed into the barn in a fit of panic, finding Lee and a man fighting each other. The man had a gun aimed at Lee. He was going to kill him.

Before my thoughts could process anything, I'd picked up a farming tool and buried it deep into the attacker's shoulder. The man cried out in pain as I hit him for the second time, making him stumble backwards and trap his leg in an animal trap that was a bit smaller than the one back in the woods that got an innocent man killed.

Lee got up from the floor, giving Kenny a disappointed look as he emerged from one of the stalls. Kenny's face was full of guilt as he averted his eyes from Lee to me.

"Noooo!" Kat called in the distance. Kenny darted out of the barn without any words, leaving Lee and I to deal with the man.

Lee picked up another tool, pointing it at the man.

"You see? You understand now, don't ya?" The man began. "You can have me! It's how the world works now, give part of yourself so others can live!"

"What's he talking about?" I asked.

"Mark never volunteered to be food!"

My heart skipped a beat. Mark? Food? Fuck, the farmers were cannibals?!

"You gotta keep me alive! If you kill me, the meat gets tainted! You can't eat it."

"You're already tainted," Lee spat.

"You ain't gonna kill me, just like you didn't kill Jolene. You don't have what it takes, fucking coward!"

Something snapped inside Lee. That's the only way I could describe it. Lee's face was full of anger as he plummeted the tool into the cannibal's chest, leaving him dead.

"Nooo!" A little voice cried.

I hadn't noticed Clementine's presence before then. I gently placed an arm around her shoulders, protecting her from what she'd witnessed. Lee just stared at the body of the man, as if taking in what he'd just done. He turned to look at Clem, who was partially hidden behind me.

"God, no!"

"Katjaa," Lee gasped.

"I've got Clem. Carley went to the house, you have to go quickly!" I said.

Lee nodded and ran off, leaving Clem and I safe in the barn.

I crouched down so I was closer to her height and spoke carefully. "What happened?"

"They... they hurt Mark! Lee stopped me from eating the food."

"I'm so sorry," I said to the young girl, wrapping my arms around her into a hug. "Let's get out of this barn."

Clem and I went outside into the rain, my hand holding onto hers in fear of another attacker hurting anyone in the group, especially one of the kids.

"Lee will be okay," I told Clementine who was shivering.

She didn't respond.

My attention drifted to some noise, and I noticed a commotion outside of the house not far from where we stood. I saw a tall figure holding a smaller one like a hostage. Duck!

I ran with Clementine to the man who held Duck captive, while Kenny was begging for his son not to be hurt. There was a gun pointed at the young boy's head.

Kenny stepped closer. _Bang_!

Kat ran forward to Kenny who lay on the floor and Lee began taking steps nearer to Duck.

"Who the fuck do you people think you are? Look what you've done!"

The gun was dangerously close to Duck's head. I released Clementine's hand and charged, punching the guy in the face so he fell to the side and Duck could run.

Carley fired the gun, the bullet hitting the man's ear. I backed up quickly, going to Clem and Duck and protecting them while Lee pounced at the man. Everyone watched in fright as Lee was held close to the electric fence around the farm, until the fight turned around and Lee threw the man into the fence.

Lee picked up the gun and I held Clem and Duck, leading them away from the sight of what was going to happen. I didn't want them to see what Lee was going to do, they'd seen enough already. But Lee didn't shoot.

"Lee!" The man painfully called out as we walked.

"They're getting in!" Clem gasped, tugging on my hoodie and pointing to a group of walkers.

"Leeeee!"

"Let's go," Lee walked on and we all turned to follow, not listening to the man's cries behind us.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Lee," Carley began as we walked through the woods. "Were they really killing people... for food?"<p>

"Yeah," Lee replied.

"Wow."

"Clementine? Stay close," Lee changed the topic and the small child walked by his side.

Carley dropped back to be alone while I stayed behind Lee and Clem.

"Clementine... You should never kill anybody unless you absolutely have to, okay?"

Clem thought about it for a second. "Okay."

I smiled slightly at the relationship between them. Lee was fatherly towards her, protective and willing to risk anything as long as it ensured her safety.

Lee looked over his shoulder at me. "The same goes for you."

I nodded my head once, keeping up me walking pace until I heard a repetitive dinging sound nearby and a light caught my eye.

"What's that?" I asked.

With everyone interested, the group walked towards the light I could see and a car became visible. It had its doors open and I let my interest control my actions, walking forward to the car in silence.

"Marcey!" Lee whispered harshly.

"It's empty," I said, looking inside.

Everybody got closer to the abandoned vehicle and looked around.

"Oh crap," Kenny exclaimed, speaking more to Katjaa. "Baby, you gotta see this! There's a shit load of food and supplies back here."

"This food could save all of us," Kat smiled.

"Not all of us," Lilly said, staring.

It was then that I noticed we were missing Larry. I felt bad for not realising sooner, but everything was overwhelming and I was still processing the events that had taken place less than a half hour ago. I couldn't ask questions, so kept to my own imagination of what had happened to Larry.

I looked at all of the food and supplies. If we took it, we'd be well stocked and wouldn't need to venture out to find supplies for a while, but I knew it was wrong.

"We can't take this," I sighed.

"This stuff isn't ours," Clementine innocently pointed out.

"Dad, whose car is it?" Duck asked.

"Don't worry about that, Duck, it's ours now."

"It's abandoned, Ducky, don't worry," Kat reassured.

Clementine spoke up again. "What if it's not?"

Everyone turned to look at her.

"What if it's not abandoned? What if it is someone's?"

"Clementine and I don't want any part of this," Lee agreed with the little girl.

"Me neither," I decided.

Kenny looked at us with an astonished expression. "Suit yourselves."

Everybody began searching in the car at the supplies, smiles on everybody's faces except for mine and Lee's. Clementine had a small smile, hers because she was happy about not being the only one who didn't want to steal.

"I'm not watching these guys stealing this," I sighed, walking ahead and back onto the path, heading to the motel.

* * *

><p>We ended up using the supplies taken from the car. I felt guilty about it, but that was how things worked. We had to survive, that was the most important thing.<p>

I sat alone in one of the empty rooms of the motel, the place I'd lived for months. It was home for me.

There was a knock at the door. I picked up my screwdriver.

"Come in."

The door opened slowly, a white and blue jacket appearing in my view as Travis walked in, followed by Ben, who eyed the screwdriver in my hand nervously.

"Uh," he stuttered. "We brought you some food."

"Thanks," I said, taking the packet of chips he passed to me and observing it. I laughed once, the kind of laugh that is more just a sharp exhale of air with a smile. "I used to have these all the time as a kid. I would always sneak a few of them to the dog, too."

Ben and Travis looked at each other.

"You can sit down," I told them, opening the packet and inhaling the scent that brought back childhood memories.

Travis dropped himself to the floor, leaning against the wall while Ben awkwardly did the same.

"You had a dog?" Ben asked.

I nodded my head, my stomach feeling a bit twisted. "Her name was Sammi, had her since I was about..." I put my arm out to a low height. "This high."

"What, uh, what happened to her?"

I paused, wondering whether to go in telling my story or not. "The apocalypse."

Travis coughed uncomfortably. "Sorry about that."

"She was a good dog, defended me until the end," I sadly continued eating the food.

"I had a cat," he smiled.

"What was its name?" I was vaguely interested in knowing more about the two boys.

"Don't laugh," he pointed a finger at me and then Ben. "Petal."

I couldn't help but hide the giggle. "She must have been real cute."

"It was a boy."

Ben tried to keep his laughter in, but failed and was just making small chuckling sounds. Then the three of us were laughing.

"He was a good cat," Travis stated when the laughter had died out. "My dad said I was stupid for calling him that name but I liked it when I was six. He died three years ago, when I was fifteen but I've moved on."

"I had no pets," Ben shrugged. "My sister wanted a hamster but my parents said no to animals because they're messy and smell bad."

"So do kids but that didn't stop them having you," Travis replied.

Ben smiled for a few seconds before the smile faded a bit. "I miss them."

Our conversation stopped, the only sound in the room being Travis tapping his feet against the floor and me crumbling the empty packet from the food.

Travis sighed. "Way to kill the mood, Ben."


	5. Secrets

The leaves on the tree were an orange-gold combination, rustling in the light wind of fall. I sat on top of the RV, gun in my hand and prepared for anything. The gun was a good weapon for me. I preferred using that instead of the screwdriver because I didn't have to get so close to the walkers to use it.

I scanned my eyes around the motor inn. Ben was stood giving something to Clementine, who had a happy smile of excitement on her face. She took the item and began picking at it, and I realised it must have been stickers as she put them on the walkie talkie.

Ben walked back to Travis and they were talking, then both their heads turned in my direction. I quickly moved my gaze onto the next person, seeing Lilly looking out of an inn window. She'd been stuck in there for days, refusing to come out much and limiting her social interaction with the group. Lilly gave me an emotionless expression before dropping the curtain back and disappearing from my sight.

Carley was flicking her gun around in her hand. I hoped it was unloaded, because she seemed a bit careless spinning it in her hands like that and it did make me somewhat nervous.

Kat and Duck were talking together by themselves, Kat smiling at her son as he rambled on excitedly about things I couldn't hear.

"Hey," a kind voice caught my attention. "You want a break? I'll keep watch."

I looked at Ben who stood at the bottom of the vehicle. "I'm fine here, there's not much else I'd do anyway. You're welcome to join, though."

Ben smiled a bit and climbed up onto the RV, sitting with his legs dangling over the side.

"You okay?" I asked, feeling like he was looking to say something.

"I..." Ben looked at his classmate who approached and corrected himself. "We were wondering how you're coping... with the nightmares, I mean."

"Uh," I looked down at the gun. "I'm good, I think. I can't say I've been sleeping particularly well, but the benefit to that is that there's no nightmares."

"You look like shit," Travis commented, pulling himself up beside us. "No offence."

"You don't look fantastic yourself," I shot back. The look on his face made me feel a bit guilty, because he seemed like he didn't mean it. "I'm sorry. Tired."

"It's fine," he said, patting my arm. "Why don't you let us take over for a bit? You could try sleep then."

I sighed and passed Ben the gun in defeat, moving from my chair to allow the other boy to sit.

"Lee and Kenny are back," I pointed to the two men as they walked back into the motel.

They went to Lilly's room and I heard Kenny speak first.

"We got the kids on watch again?"

"What did you get?" Lilly ignored his comment.

Kenny continued. "We might as well leave a sign out that says 'the men are gone, come rape our women and children'."

I groaned out loud, only for Travis and Ben to hear though.

"I hate him calling us kids," I swung my legs over the side of the vehicle. "I hate him speaking like everybody in this world is disgusting, too."

Travis agreed. "I'm eighteen, not eight. And I could protect you guys... probably."

"He doesn't mean it," Ben defended Kenny. "He's just saying that to pick up on Lilly not doing this."

I shrugged. "It still bothers me, he's called me a kid the whole time I've known him."

"Well, we're still seventeen," Ben mumbled.

"Yeah, technically you guys are still kids," Travis smiled.

I punched him playfully in the arm before jumping down from the RV and walking away from where I could hear Kenny and Lilly arguing.

I walked to the bathroom. It had a cracked mirror, taps that didn't work, a toilet that didn't flush and a shower that unsurprisingly also didn't work. I glanced in the mirror, noticing the huge bags and dark lines under my eyes. My skin looked deathly pale with marks of dirt on it. My eyebrows were losing definition since they'd been left to grow out with not having time or tools to fix up my face and my lips were cracked, peeled and dry. My blonde hair was tied up in a messy bun on top of my head with an elastic band, looking greasy and tangled. My red hoodie was stained with blood, my jeans ripped around the knees, and my white tank top looking grey, dirty and bloody.

"I look disgusting," I complained to myself.

"We all do."

I let out a shriek in shock, spinning to the side where I was greeted by Travis.

"You could knock on the door!"

"Sorry," he said, lacking any apologetic tone to his voice.

"What's up?" I asked, straightening my hoodie and brushing some stray hairs back behind my ear with my hands.

"The argument kicked off pretty badly, Lilly went mental and screamed at everyone to get out of the room, so now people are just sulking around."

"That's all you came in here to say?" I raised an eyebrow. "You followed me to a deserted bathroom and decided to tell me that everyone has fallen out when I least expected?"

Travis seemed to blush a little.

"Seriously?" The corners of my mouth turned up into a small smile.

"I just wanted to check if you were okay," he lifted and dropped his shoulders in a quick motion.

"Travis, I'm fine. Honestly. Are you?"

He looked at the ground and began biting one of his fingernails.

"Gross, don't do that! You've not washed your hands and you've had walker blood on them."

He dropped his hand and pulled a disgusted face. "I didn't think of that. Um. Okay, I'm a little suspicious of Ben."

I crossed my arms, leaning on one side against the wall. "I thought he was your friend?"

"We were in band together, but I hadn't really talked to him much before the whole," he waved his hands looking for words. "Zombie apocalypse thing."

"So why are you suspicious?"

"Well, I was on watch with him the other night, right? Carley was too, but she had to go to the bathroom so that left just us for a few minutes. There was a noise in the woods, like people talking, and then Ben suddenly started acting all nervous. I asked him what was up, and he just brushed it off and said nothing was up. That's weird, right?"

I thought about the anecdote for a second. "You should tell Lee."

"I don't want Ben to get in trouble or anything!"

"And if he is hiding something?" I replied quickly. "A secret that could get us killed or _worse_?"

Travis sighed. "I'll go tell him now."

I smiled in a comforting manner before walking around him in the doorway and going back outside to the RV. Travis walked closely beside me, his face looking uncertain and anxious.

When we were behind the RV, Ben's voice suddenly picked up in the silence. "What's with the third degree? I didn't break any flashlight!"

"Okay then." That was Lee.

I raised an eyebrow and Travis mirrored my face.

"Now?" Travis checked with me.

"Go," I told him. "He definitely isn't acting normal."

Travis nodded and we walked around the vehicle just as Lee went to walk away.

"Hey, Lee? Can I talk to you for a sec?"

I climbed up the ladder and back onto the van, ignoring Lee and Travis as they walked away.

Ben looked nervous. I smiled at him, and he returned it, though not very naturally and we remained in silence.

"Nice... nice weather we're having," Ben stated.

I resisted the urge to giggle. "I guess."

Travis and Lee returned after a few minutes, the older man seeming to study Ben before turning to me.

"Marcey, mind speaking with me real quick?"

I got down from the RV and walked with Lee out of everybody else's earshot.

"There's something I want to tell you," he awkwardly held one of his arms and avoided my eyes a bit.

"Is something wrong?"

"Before I met Clementine... I was going to prison."

My eyes widened a bit. How could someone like Lee be going to prison?

"I killed a guy."

"Do you mind me asking why?"

"Caught him with my wife," he looked sad.

"I'm sorry," I said. "Listen, I don't really care about who everyone was before the apocalypse. People change, they have changed. We've all killed now, anyway."

"It doesn't mean what I did was right," Lee sighed, shaking his head slowly.

"I know but... it just doesn't change my opinion now, okay?"

He nodded his head. "Thanks, Marcey."

"You've told Clem, right?"

"She was the first I told. Carley already knew."

"Good," I smiled.

He smiled too, although his were more like half-smiles and almost undetectable.

"I should be getting back to watch now," I said, turning my body slightly and pointing to the van.

"Wait, Marcey? You haven't broken a flashlight recently, have you?" Lee inquired, his tone suggesting he already knew I hadn't.

I shrugged my shoulders. "I didn't even think we had them."

"Okay, never mind."

I smiled again before going back to the RV.

* * *

><p><strong>The views, favourites and follows I have had for this fic have shocked me a bit. I didn't expect anyone to read this, let alone like what I am doing! So thank you so much readers. Your feedback and acknowledgements make my day x <strong>


	6. Bandits

I sat at the bottom of the RV on the floor leaning against it while I spun the screwdriver in my hand. I was bored. Really bored. Travis was leaning over the top of the RV and talking to me in an attempt to remove the boredom from the inn.

"I spy with my little eye, something beginning with 'T'," he said to me.

"Tree?"

He clicked his fingers dramatically and pulled a face. "Damn, you're good at this game."

I giggled. "Don't be so sarcastic. Okay, 'S'?"

"Shit!"

"No-"

My voice was cut off when a group of when a large group of people barged through the fence and into our parking lot. I pushed myself up from the floor just as a bandit ran at me. They grabbed my arm and began pulling me away from the RV, so I stabbed them in the shoulder with my weapon. The bandit released me, crying out in pain.

"Screwdriver," I told Travis who was now stood beside me with a look of shock, staring at the bandit in front of me.

More attacked and I had no weapon. The bandit pulled the screwdriver from his shoulder with surprising ease and held it out aimed at Travis and I. "Get in the circle. Now!"

Guns were pointed at our heads- at Duck's and Clementine's, too. My heart raced. The group was herded into a circle like animals as one bandit began screaming at us.

"You don't fucking steal from us!"

I was shoved onto my knees, my hands behind my head and my heart beating at a speed that could have been dangerous.

"We ain't fuckin' around!" Another said, prodding the gun into the back of my head and making me squeak. Travis looked at me with worried eyes, so did Ben and Carley. Kat and Kenny were focused on Duck. Clem was waiting for Lee.

"You made the biggest mistake of your lives!"

"What are you talking about?" Travis snapped at them.

The masked bandit that stood closest to him dug his knee into Travis' back, making my friend cry out in pain, before he hit him hard with the gun and knocked him out.

"Trav!" Ben gasped.

"Enough of this bullshit!" A bandit shouted in a deep voice. "Drew, start putting your boot to these doors!"

Ben looked frightened. My eyes felt a bit watery as I tried to keep them fixed on the fainted Travis, who lay on the floor with a line of blood falling over his face.

"Why are you doing this?" Lee appeared, holding his hands out to show they were empty. "Just leave us the fuck alone."

Lee tried to reason with them, and it seemed like an agreement was going to be made. My heart rate began to slow down until - _bang_.

I was frozen, not wanting to know who in our group got shot. I risked a look, seeing the bandit lying near me, a hole through his head.

The group stood in a panic, Carley picking up a gun and firing it at some of the bandits, killing them each in one shot. I flew to my feet and called out for help to nobody in particular, trying my best to lift Travis. His eyes fluttered as Ben was at his other side, and we both dragged him to his feet, ignoring the gunshots and fighting around us in a potentially life-threatening situation.

We aimed straight for the RV when someone whistled and a large group of bandits ran from the woods.

Then Ben fell to the floor, bringing half of Travis with him and making me stumble.

"Ben!"

He scrambled away, crawling to cover and leaving me holding on to Travis' arm. He winced.

"What's-" Travis began, confused and in pain from waking up.

"Move!" I yelled, pushing him to where Ben was so he was under cover from the firing line.

I had nowhere to hide. I raced to the vehicle, my journey being a matter of life and death. I was so close to safety, my heart pounding in my chest and my head dizzy with worries.

Another gunshot fired and I collapsed to the floor, excruciating pain shooting up my leg.

"Marcey!" Carley gasped, suddenly near me and dragging me up from the floor. We ran, or limped, to a bin and hid behind it. Lee fired shots at some of the bandits. He signalled for Ben and Travis to move when firing briefly stopped, and they climbed into the RV.

More shots. My leg felt warm and gross but I didn't want to see where I'd been shot.

"Help!" Katjaa's voice begged.

Lee moved and began covering for her, Clementine and Duck.

"You're going to be fine," Carley reassured me, and I realised it was because my breathing had become irregular. I couldn't ignore the pain anymore, feeling something lodged into my leg. In all the panic, I somehow remembered my father telling me once about how to treat a gunshot. I pushed the memories away and clamped my hand down on the wound, biting my lip so hard it cracked and bled.

The next thing was walkers entering the inn, attacking the bandits and giving everyone a chance to make a break for the RV. We took the opportunity and threw ourselves into it. It reversed and then Lilly dived through the door before Kenny slammed onto the accelerator and we zoomed out onto the road away from a place I'd dared to call our home.

* * *

><p>I couldn't stop the tears from flowing down my face in the pain.<p>

"What happened?" Travis asked as I sat on the floor of the RV, blood soaking through the left leg of my jeans.

"She got bit!" Lilly yelled. "Stop the RV!"

"One of the bandits shot her, it's not a bite!" Carley defended.

"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit," Ben had his face buried in his hands. If I hadn't have been distracted by the burning pain, I'd have been trying to comfort the distressed boy. I'd never heard him swear before then.

Everything went light, and I realised it was because I'd been lifted from the ground. I shut my eyes and let the tears fall, my body seeming to shake with sobs. Lilly was going to throw me out. I'd be left on the roadside to die alone with nobody. I'd lose Lee, Clementine, Travis, Kenny, Carley...

Instead, I was placed on a seat, my leg being elevated. I opened my eyes and saw everyone crowded around me in worry.

"The shot is here, by her knee."

"We need to stop the bleeding," Lee stated.

I felt one leg of my jeans be rolled up slightly, catching on the wound and making me scream slightly.

"I think I'm gonna be sick," Travis moaned, followed by the sound of him doing just that.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," I heard Ben say.

My eyes fluttered a bit. Damn, my leg really hurt.

"It's okay," I whispered weakly. "It's all okay."

I blacked out.

* * *

><p>A gunshot woke me up. My heart raced, my leg hurt, and I was disoriented.<p>

Something slammed into the wall of the RV.

"Drop it," I heard Lee command in a menacing voice.

"Holy fuck," Kenny said.

"Kenny!" Katjaa shouted, startling me when I realised she was in the front of the RV and not outside. "What's happening?"

"Keep Duck away from the windows! Jesus Christ."

I looked over at Clementine, who stood in the doorway unaware that I was awake.

"Clem?" I whispered.

The little girl turned and stared at me. "Marcey!" She rushed over and flung her arms around my neck. "I'm glad you're okay."

"Yeah, me too," I said, smiling. "What's going on?"

Clementine didn't answer, she just stayed hugging me with her face hidden. I could have sworn I heard her give a small sob.

The others climbed back into the RV and saw that I was awake.

"Welcome back," Lee said to me before closing the door.

"Thanks," I smiled and looked at the others. Everybody looked upset. "What? Wait. Where's Carley?"

Clementine let out a small cry again and then let go of me.

Ben had a frown on his face, Travis did too. Lee looked cold and Lilly looked empty.

"Where is she?" I asked, louder and more forceful while panic made my heart race quicker.

"She's dead."

I looked at Lilly.

"She was stealing from us, she made the-"

"Shut up, Lilly!" Lee growled, slamming his fist down on a counter.

"You... What did you do?" I sat up, ignoring the pain I still felt in my leg.

"She shot her," Travis said.

My mouth opened a little bit. I wanted to say so much. Shout so much. The only noise I made was a struggled breath. I lay back down, turning my back to Lilly and everyone else, and closing my eyes.

I whispered almost inaudibly, but I knew she heard. "I hate you."

* * *

><p>Carley was in my nightmares that night. Everyone else was too, but she was the main focus.<p>

_"Why didn't you help me?" She asked._

_"I didn't know she was going to do that," I stuttered._

_"If you hadn't have gotten shot then you would have been able to save me. You wouldn't have been asleep!"_

_"I'm sorry Carley!"_

_"Sorry doesn't fix it."_

_A gun fired and she collapsed on the floor in front of me while I repeated apologies. I had to bury her. I leaned down to pick up her body, and then Carley reanimated, taking a huge bite out of my leg. I screamed in pain, but didn't make an effort to push her away. I couldn't move, like a statue, frozen._

_"Help!" I yelled. "Please, somebody help me! Make it stop!"_

I woke up from the nightmare in the moving vehicle. Light snores could be heard around me. I knew Carley wouldn't be checking if I was okay this time. She was dead, left to rot on a roadside. And I couldn't save her.

I cried silently to myself.


	7. Train

The RV came to a stop when daylight came about again. I didn't move to see why we'd stopped, I couldn't really because of my injured leg and lack of motivation.

Lee and Kenny stepped out to go and look at whatever was blocking our path.

"Maybe I should go look too," Ben suggested. "They might need some help."

"Yeah, Travis you should go too."

I rolled over onto my side so I was facing the teenagers and Lilly. "Kenny won't want a lot of people there. One of you go."

Ben left and Travis stayed.

"What is it?" I asked, pushing myself up but being unable to see what was ahead.

"It's a train," Lilly stated, bluntly.

I ignored her.

Kenny decided to get all of us except Lilly out of the RV.

I swung my legs down onto the floor of the RV and tested my injured leg, which had been bandaged up and stopped bleeding. I winced in pain, biting my teeth together when I put the pressure on it.

"You're not ready to walk on it yet," Travis noticed. "Let me help."

I nodded my head and put an arm around his shoulders, while he hooked an arm around my waist, helping me hobble towards the door.

"I'll lift you out," he offered.

"You can't do that, I'm too hea-"

I squealed a bit when I was lifted bridal style into his arms and carried outside of the RV.

Kenny and Lee immediately raised their eyebrows at the sight, looking both confused and protective. Ben blushed.

Travis placed me back so I was standing, looping his arms around me and helping me walk over to where Katjaa and Clementine were sat.

"You're okay?" He checked as I took a seat.

"Yeah, thanks Travis," I smiled at him the best I could, and he nodded his head before walking to Ben.

Clementine shuffled closer to me and played with the material of her dress out of boredom. I looked at Kat who held Duck in her arms.

"Kat?" I spoke softly and she looked up. "Is Duck okay?"

Kat looked upset and slowly shook her head. "He's been bit."

My stomach twisted. The energetic, lively and excitable boy was going to die. I didn't know what to say, so just slowly looked away. How had things been going okay and then taken a turn so quickly? Carley died, I got shot and Duck was bitten.

There was a loud thump, and my eyes were drawn to Lee who was lying on the floor near the RV, which suddenly began to move.

Kenny ran over, Lee shouted, but the RV just drove away into the distance, leaving us all abandoned. I had definitely decided- I hated Lilly.

"What now?" I sighed, asking nobody in particular.

Kenny and Lee went to investigate the train, leaving Katjaa, Duck, Clementine, Ben, Travis and I alone.

"I spy with my little eye, something beginning with 'T'," Travis said, breaking the silence.

Katjaa gave him a small smile, happy that he was making the effort to cheer the rest of us up desire that her and Duck were beyond the point of being cheered up.

"Tree," I said.

He shook his head.

"Travis?" Ben asked.

"Nope."

"Train," Clementine perked up a little bit.

Travis grinned. "Your turn, Clem."

The little girl looked around before finally settling on her choice. "I spy something beginning with 'L'."

There was a long pause as we tried to guess.

"Lots of people?" Travis smiled.

"I haven't got a clue," I shrugged.

"I give up," Ben sighed.

Clementine let out a small giggle, happy she'd won. "Lee."

With that, the man approached and took in our smiling faces.

"What did I miss?" He asked.

"We were playing a game," Clementine answered.

"Well I won't interrupt," he turned to Ben while Clementine spied something else.

"I spy something beginning with 'W'?"

My heart stopped and my muscles tensed in preparation to fight walkers. I winced in pain and my friends looked alarmed.

"What's wrong?" Clementine wondered, voice small and frightened.

"I... I just thought you meant that there were walkers."

"Is your leg hurt?" Travis checked.

"I'll be fine. What was it, Clem?"

"Wind," she mumbled to herself. "In the trees."

I forced a small laugh and stretched my wounded leg out in silence, hoping I hadn't ruined the fun of the game.

* * *

><p>We met a new man a bit later on called Chuck, who was armed with candy for us all. I was slightly hesitant to take it, but figured I might as well since it was unlikely I'd get to taste it again anytime soon.<p>

"Do you think this train will get moving soon?" I asked Ben and Travis.

"Lee and Kenny know what they're doing," Ben smiled before adding more words. "I think."

I rolled my eyes.

Long minutes passed before we were told to get into the train. Travis and Ben helped me there and I tried to avoid looking at Duck as he was carried in his mother's arms. The vehicle eventually set into motion and we were moving.

"Thank you," I whispered, looking up out of the train and at the sky with a small smile.

"You're religious?" Travis asked.

I shrugged. "I believe in God. It's difficult sometimes- when things get bad I mean- to believe, but I still do."

"I used to read the bible in the motel," Ben admitted.

I smiled. "Glad I wasn't the only one."

* * *

><p>The train had been moving a while and I had no clue where we were going anymore, I just knew that I trusted Kenny and Lee to get us where we wanted to go.<p>

"Got to be hard on you, eh?" Chuck commented while we sat in silence. "Three adults looking after five kids."

Ben and Travis shot him a frown.

"No disrespect," he added.

"We're not kids," Travis fought before Lee could respond. "I'm technically an adult."

Chuck smiled and slowly shook his head. "Naive and young. If the world was still how it was before the dead came alive, could you really handle yourself?"

"The world isn't how it used to be!" Travis spat back at him. "And you have no idea what I lived like. You don't know me."

"Please stop fighting," Clementine pleaded softly.

There was a cough nearby and everyone turned their head to see Duck with blood around his mouth.

"Lee! Lee, I need you right now. I need you to go get Ken," Katjaa said.

"What's.."

"Would you get that off his face? My hands are full here."

Lee did as Katjaa asked.

"He's out of time," Kat held her weak son and looked up at Lee with sad eyes. "We need to stop this train."

"Okay."

"Please."

Lee walked to the door to go and speak with Kenny, turning to us all with an expressionless face.

"Hold on."

I wanted to avoid looking at the child.

"Everything will be okay, Marcey." I looked up at Katjaa who cradled Duck. She looked down at her son like he was just a baby, her eyes full of emotion. Everyone was silent, saying nothing but having their faces give away their emotions.

The train stopped, and after a short time Kenny and Lee walked back to where we sat.

"Ken, it's... I think it's time," Kat told her husband. "We can't allow him to become one of those things."

"But what if... What if he doesn't?"

Katjaa had tears filling her eyes, making me want to look away from the sight of the parents losing their child.

"Kenny, I love you very much. I love our son more than life itself. I need you to hear me. What you are saying, that he may not turn, is foolish."

"But-"

"No!"

Everybody jumped. I felt Travis watching me.

"There's... come on, Kat."

"If you think of one, you let me know."

"Isn't there some sort of pill," Kenny had desperation filling his voice. "Or something we can just give him?"

"Stop it," Kat had a stray tear falling down her face.

"He can just drift off to sleep, right hon? I mean, Jesus, this is our son!"

"I know! But we know it's here," she tapped her head. "Or nothing."

"Well, fuck, just.. who then? You want me to?" Kenny asked, his voice raising.

"You don't have to," Kat told him.

"I'll do it," Kenny replied.

"No! You don't have to."

"Kat?" I asked, stopping the conversation between the couple.

She looked around at me slightly.

"Duck," I said calmly.

Kat looked down at her son, who had blood trailing from his mouth again and shallow breathing that made him look so still. He did look like he could just drift off to sleep like Kenny wanted.

"We have to do this now," she sighed. "I'll do it."

Katjaa picked up her child and carried him away with a gun into the woods.

I let out a small cough in an attempt to keep back my tears. I refused to be the person who cried when there was a man in front of me who was losing his baby, a small girl who didn't understand what was happening, and everybody else who seemed to be coping better than I was.

A hand was placed on mine.

"You're okay," Travis whispered to me, holding my hand properly.

"Why him?" I quietly asked. "Why did Duck get bitten instead of me? I'm a liability now anyway."

"Don't you think like that!" His voice was angered but he kept his volume down. "You'll be better soon, and what happened with Duck was nobody's fault, you hear me?"

I put my head on his shoulder and said nothing.

There was a gunshot.

"I'm gonna go get her," Kenny said. "She's probably a mess."

Lee turned to us in the train, then looked at Ben who stood outside. "Ben, get Clementine on the train, all right? And keep your eyes open."

Ben nodded and then the two men walked away.

Clementine climbed onto the train and sat down, wrapping her arms around her legs and resting her head on her knees.

"Clem?" I asked, lifting my head up. "You okay,sweetie?"

She nodded her head but kept resting on her knees. I looked at Travis and sunk back into his shoulder.

"I'm worried about her," I confessed to him.

"Me too."

"It's gotta be difficult for someone so young to be witnessing all of this shit," I watched her as I spoke, seeing her back rise and fall with her steady breathing so I knew she wasn't crying.

"How old is she?" Travis asked, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and holding me closer.

"Eight, I think."

"Damn."

"I know."

Travis' arms were warm around me and I shuffled slightly into his side so I could steal more warmth.

"How's your head?" I asked, tilting my head to look at where I remembered the gun being hit into his head. He'd since had the blood wiped off, which I presumed was while I'd blacked out in the RV.

"It hurt a little at first. Could have been worse though," he admitted, eyes flickering to my leg and then back to my face.

"It doesn't hurt much," I told him. "Who fixed it up?"

"Carley knew what to do. To be honest, I tried to avoid looking at it. They kept the bullet in."

I nodded my head. "I miss her."

Travis rested his head on mine and sighed deeply.

There was another gunshot.

"Probably a walker," Travis whispered.

We waited for a short minute before Kenny returned, his face miserable and cold.

"Kenny?"

The man looked at me, then slowly shook his head and walked through the door to the front of the train. Lee climbed into the train along with Ben. Soon, we were travelling again. There was no need to ask questions about Katjaa and Duck, we knew what had happened through what we had heard.

I felt sick with the thought of losing any more people than we already had. Everything was going wrong.

* * *

><p><strong>Two updates in one week? How exciting! Updates should definitely been weekly from now on because I've caught up with my writing and editing, so how about clicking on that follow button to see when I post a new chapter? And if you're feeling really generous, reviews are very much appreciated and I'd love you forever. X<strong>


	8. Tanker

**Yet another quick update AND almost 3000 words in this chapter? You lucky ducks! Well... I mean, not Duck considering the past few chapters... Enjoy reading!**

* * *

><p>Ben looked broken. He didn't talk to anyone, not even Travis, and stood away from the group.<p>

"He's taken this pretty hard," I pointed out to Travis.

"It's been one hell of a day," he sighed, lifting his head up from resting on mine and rubbing his eyes with one hand as he'd fallen asleep.

I apologised for waking him up, receiving a smile back. Travis looked almost as bad as I did, his skin looked washed out and his hair was messy, his clothes dyed with blood stains from the walkers we'd battled.

I observed my own clothes, seeing how my jeans were crumpled with dry blood on my wounded leg in particular. I wished I could have something different to wear.

"What's on your mind?"

I let out a small laugh. "You sound like a popular social media site."

He chuckled. "Very funny. Tell me in one hundred and forty characters or less, please."

"Wrong one," I grinned. I played with the sleeve of my hoodie that had rips all on the wrist. "I was just thinking about how I miss the simple things, you know?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Like?"

"Having a change of clothes would be one thing. I feel disgusting."

Travis agreed.

"I just want to get a shower or a wash, brush my hair and teeth, put some make up on and walk the streets without having to worry about corpses attacking me."

"I miss my bed," he sighed. "I had a double sized one and it was the warmest thing you could imagine."

"I miss the stupid things that felt like such a big deal at the time but actually meant nothing. One day, I was playing with the dog outside and accidentally threw a toy into our neighbours window. I cried about it for like a week because my parents had to pay for the damage and we never even got the toy back."

Travis tried not to smile. "Your neighbour didn't sound very nice."

"They weren't, but my parents didn't really mind me breaking the window because apparently she deserved it," I laughed, before feeling a bit sad and trying to get off the topic of my own family. "What about yours?"

"My parents? Uh, they divorced when I was a kid. My dad was in special forces so I didn't see him all that much anyway."

"I'm sorry."

He continued. "My mom worked in a shop. It wasn't the best pay so sometimes she'd do overtime to make sure we had money and I could have the best possible life. I guess it didn't really matter in the end though. I wonder if she's still alive."

I tilted my head up at him. "She could be."

"I'll just think she is," he said. "Marcey?"

"Yeah?"

"What... What happened to your family?"

I tensed.

"Nevermind," he quickly said. "You can just tell me whatever you want when you're ready."

I nodded my head and relaxed.

Lee walked in a bit later on and sat with Clementine, talking. I really didn't like how close they sat to the edge of the train.

My eyes widened when Lee stood up and took a gun out of his pocket.

"Lee?" I panicked.

"Clem needs to know how to protect herself," he told me. "This might be good for you both, too."

I nodded my head and leaned away from Travis, watching as the young girl held the deadly weapon in her small hands and aimed it at a bottle.

Lee covered Clementine's ears and I did the same to my own.

She fired the gun and let out a frightened squeak.

"Everyone okay?" Lee checked.

"All good," I confirmed.

She kept shooting until the bottle had been hit without any direction from Lee.

"Awesome, Clem!" I beamed.

"Not so scary, huh?" Lee smiled.

"Nuh-uh," she passed the gun back to Lee.

"Now, we need to talk about your hair... It's not safe."

"That's not nice!" Clem narrowed her eyes.

"What?" Lee looked to Travis and I for help.

"Are you saying it smells?" The girl asked.

Lee relaxed. "No."

"Because it does, kinda," she frowned.

"We're all the same, Clementine," Travis told her.

"What do you mean then?" I asked the man.

He sighed. "We need to cut it, so a walker can't grab onto it."

I felt my own hair which was now tied into a messy ponytail, the rubber band beginning to snap.

"Maybe it'd be good for you, too," he suggested.

Clementine sat down so Lee could cut her hair.

"Do you know how to do this?" She asked as he got the scissors ready in his hands.

He hesitated.

"I'm going to look like a boy," she moped.

"Want me to do it?" I offered. Lee smiled gratefully and I shuffled over to cut the young girl's curly hair, ignoring the pain in my leg.

"You know, I always wanted curly hair," I told her while cutting it.

"Your hair is really long," she replied. "I always wanted long hair."

I instantly felt bad about cutting it off, but if it was one danger removed then I couldn't feel guilty.

"I wish I had another band to keep it back, then I wouldn't need to cut as much off," I said, brushing some of the fallen strands off of her shoulders.

"Here, I have some hair thingies," she passed me them.

"Where'd you get these?" I questioned, tying a purple one into her short locks.

"Lilly gave them to me for sleeping."

I looked at Lee who folded his arms. "Mind if I keep one of these? This rubber band won't last much longer."

"Sure."

"You look cute, and a lot harder to grab," Lee reassured her when she looked up at him with a worried face. He gave her the hat she always wore back.

I looked at the scissors in my hand, sighing as I thought of my own hair. I'd been growing it for years.

"Want me to do it?" Travis asked.

I passed him the scissors and didn't say anything, sitting in front of him and closing my eyes.

"How much do I cut?" He scooped my hair back in his hands.

"The same as Clem," I replied immediately.

There was a metallic sound and my hair felt lighter. It kept going until I could feel air on my neck.

"Done."

I opened my eyes and felt for my hair, tying it up with the tie Clementine gave me in place of the rubber band, which I kept on my wrist.

"We match," I forced a smile at the little girl, who returned it.

The floor was full of blonde strands, which I brushed out of the train as best as I could.

"How's your leg?" Lee asked me.

"I've not tried to walk on it for a while, so currently it's numb," I giggled a bit then decided to stand up, which gave me a shooting pain. Lee put his hands out to catch me and Travis stood up, too. "I'm fine."

I took a few steps, limping but managing.

"I think you'll be back to normal in no time," the man smiled before making his way to the front of the train.

I tried walking around the train more. I wanted to see Kenny and check if he was okay. I missed him.

I left Travis with Clem and headed towards the front of the train, passing Ben along the way.

"You okay, Ben?" I asked him.

He lifted his eyes to look at me, his face heavy with sadness and he shrugged.

"Maybe things will get better," I sighed, then began moving away. "Ben?"

"Yeah?"

"Why did you apologise in the RV after I got shot?"

He turned his head away in silence, so I decided to drop it and move on.

"It was me," a small voice said.

I froze and rotated around to look at Ben. "What?"

"It's my fault. The bandits... Carley, Duck, Kat."

I held up a hand, signalling for him to stop. "Ben, I don't want to hear this. I can't hear this. I'm going to get Lee, you can talk to him."

Ben stuttered, and I shot him a look of disappointment. He nodded and I walked away to the front of the train where Lee stood near the controls.

"Lee, I think you need to have a conversation with Ben."

He raised an eyebrow. "Okay?"

Kenny came through the door and Lee left.

"Your leg is doing better, then?" Kenny noticed.

"I think so," I half smiled. "How are you doing?"

Kenny thought about it. "I'll need time, but my main concern now is finding a boat. We can't have more lives gone. This will bring our safety, I'm sure of it."

"I hope you're right," I replied. "How long until we reach Savannah?"

"I suspect we'll be there pretty soon. We've been travelling for a while now."

I nodded my head.

"You cut your hair?"

"Travis did it," I felt what was left with my hair and sighed. "Lee said it'd be safer for Clem and I."

"Good. Uh," Kenny awkwardly avoided my eyes. "That Travis kid seems to be keen to help you out."

I blinked a few times. "He's kind."

Kenny let out small laugh or a big breath. "Now ain't the time for relationships, Marcey."

I opened my mouth to reply, my face beginning to blush.

Kenny turned to face me. "I'm serious, Marce. It's good you've got him, but this apocalypse makes people act for themselves a lot instead of other people... Back on the farm when Lee was being attacked, you saved him. I just hid. I hate to say that ain't the first time I saved my blood first."

I shifted my weight onto my good leg, wondering what to reply. "Before I met you guys in Macon, I was wandering the streets looking for survivors or supplies or safety. One road was empty of any movement, and there was a food delivery truck there. The door was lifted in the back, so I doubted there'd be anything there, but I went to it anyway. I found a survivor. They were as shocked as I was to have found another living person, but before they could speak, a walker appeared and went to attack me. And I ran away. I could have killed it, and instead I escaped like a coward. I just heard the sounds of the person crying as I ran."

Kenny had a frown on his face. I figured he was just as disappointed in me as he was in himself.

"Trouble ahead," another voice interrupted our conversation, and we quickly glanced ahead of the train just in time to see something hanging from a bridge and blocking our path.

"Oh, shit! Hold on everybody!"

Kenny stopped the train as quickly as he could, and I fell forward slightly at the motion.

Chuck walked through the door and stood with us. "How we gonna get past this then?" He asked expectantly like we already had a plan.

"No fuckin' clue," Kenny shrugged. "I'll go check it out, Marcey you get back with the other kids."

He went to leave but I grabbed his arm. "Don't dwell on what happened, okay? It wasn't your fault."

Kenny lowered his eyes, softly and sadly. "You too, Marce. Thanks."

I nodded my head and he left the train, so I headed back to the train car I'd left the others in.

Clementine, Ben and Travis were getting off the train, so I did the same.

"Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuuuuuuuck!" Kenny shouted.

Clementine covered her mouth and I stared at the floor.

"Maybe we could walk," Ben suggested.

"That's fuckin' stupid, Ben."

"I'm just sayin'."

"Hmm, I dunno. I ain't got much experience with y'all's fortitude, but we could probably deal with that," Chuck said to us. "We got a goddamn train."

Kenny turned to him. "That thing is not full of milk, Charles; It's gas or diesel, something that's going to explode."

"You gotta get a hold of yourself. This is a crew here."

Kenny stepped closer to him, a dangerous look on his face. He looked the older man from head to toe. "This ain't shit."

"This-"

"Yo!" A new voice called. "You keep screaming like that you're gonna get your face chewed off!"

Everyone looked up to the bridge where a man and woman stood.

"Are you guys gonna be trouble? Because we could have just kept walking," the woman put her hands on her hips.

"We're no trouble," I answered.

"You guys got a problem with your train?"

"Yeah," Kenny shot back. "You're standing right in front of it."

"You guys can come up here and have a look," the woman said.

"I'll go," Lee turned to the group.

"I'll come with you," Travis began walking with him, leaving the rest of us on the ground. I desperately wished my leg was healed enough to climb a ladder.

"How's your leg?" Ben appeared by my side.

"Okay. How'd it go with Lee?"

Ben shuffled on his feet and shrugged. "I can't tell anyone what happened. Not yet, anyway."

I nodded my head. "That's probably for the best."

"I feel like I should tell Kenny though," he admitted.

"No," I quickly grabbed his shoulders. "If you do that he'd go insane. You'd get kicked off the train, or shot, or worse."

Ben stared at me and then looked at my hands on his shoulders. I let go.

"Okay," he said, defeated.

There was a long pause.

"Are you and Travis ... together?"

"What?" I widened my eyes.

"Uh, sorry, never mind."

"Why does everybody think that?" I rolled my eyes.

"You're always so close," he ran a hand through his hair and began looking away. "It's nice though."

I shook my head slowly. "We're not like that."

"Yeah, okay. I'm gonna go talk to Kenny and Chuck."

I nodded and he walked away.

Clementine.

"Where's Clem?" I frantically panicked, then saw the little girl ascending the ladder near the top of the bridge. Lee appeared with her and I calmed down.

Part of me was worried for what the strangers would be like, but I trusted Lee's decisions, knowing he wouldn't take any risks that endangered Clementine. Travis was weary of people too, so the two opinions together would hopefully not clash.

I limped back to the train and sat in the doorway, legs dangling down just above the ground. I stared into the forest and fell into a daydream of wondering how the huge tank could possibly be moved without causing bigger problems for ourselves.

I noticed Lee and the others descending down the ladder so moved back to the small group.

"Guys, this is Omid and Christa," Lee introduced.

Nobody replied so I spoke up first. "It's nice to meet you both. I'm Marceline."

Omid gave a happy smile and Christa looked a little more relaxed.

"The plan is to cut that tanker down and be on our way," Lee told us.

"Seems like a plan enough to me," Kenny unfolded his arms.

"Let's get started then," I smiled.

"You'll be doing nothing," Kenny faced me. "You gotta rest up that leg."

I pulled a face. "Don't make me out to be useless, I can do something!"

"Marce, Kenny's right. If you put too much pressure on your leg already it'll take longer to recover, and your bandages need changing anyway," Travis watched me carefully.

"Fine."

"I'll get to know the girl for a minute," Christa looked at Clem before turning back to Lee. "If you don't mind."

"And why don't I show you how this thing works, in case something happens," Kenny suggested to Omid.

"Really, Ken?" Lee asked.

"It's probably for the best," Kenny began to climb the ladder onto the train. "Someone might want to have a look at that station back there, too."

"Sounds great!" Omid beamed. "Let's do this thing."

I sighed, watching the 'adults' go away to work while I stood still, beginning to feel the pain in my leg.

"Let's go fix up your leg," Travis put a hand on my shoulder and lead me back into the train. "Ben, come help me with this, will ya?"

"I can do it myself!" I shoved his hand away from my shoulder and pulled myself up onto the train.

Travis raised an eyebrow. "Right. Sure, go ahead."

He lightly threw a scrunched up bandage roll from his jacket pocket. I wondered where he'd even gotten that from.

"We'll be out here if you need us."

I rolled my trouser leg up, seeing the dried black blood coating the bandage. I picked at a corner of the bandage and began peeling it away from the wound with difficulty as it had all stuck together. Eventually I got down to the layer of bandage on my skin and bit my lip and I slowly tore it off, hurting me as I did it.

There was a round wound on my leg from the bullet. It wasn't very deep, but it looked horrible. I wished I had water to clean away the blood, but since that wasn't an option, I just bandaged it up again. The pain was bearable and not too awful, so I didn't mind all that much.

I sighed, leaning against the wall of the train after I'd fixed my jeans so the bandage was covered. I could hear conversations outside and shut my eyes, listening to the voices before drifting away to sleep.


	9. Adrenaline

I woke up a few minutes later from a bad dream that felt like it went on forever.

"Are you okay?!" Travis appeared in the train doorway looking worried.

"Me?" I asked. "I'm fine. Bad dream."

"Again?" He sighed.

I shrugged and stood up to leave the train and walk around a bit, expecting we'd be moving soon.

"Don't go too far," Ben called from the roof of the train.

I nodded and headed to the edge of the woods, closely followed by Travis.

"You're following me?" I crossed my arms.

"I'm not leaving you to go wandering off alone," he narrowed his eyes.

He followed as I walked ahead.

"Why are you going out of sight? Are you trying to run away or something?"

"I just wanted a break from everyone," I said, spotting a walker dragging itself across the floor in front of us. It had no legs, it's bottom half entirely missing.

Travis made a noise in disgust. I stood on its head and killed it. The boy looked at me as I continued walking.

"You wanted to prove yourself, didn't you?" He questioned. "You wanted to show you're not useless."

"Leave it, Trav," I warned.

"Marceline, you don't need to go risking your life by yourself like this to show them you can help out," he tried to reassure me. "Marcey?"

I kept my head down and continued walking- or limping.

"Have I done something wrong?"

"No, it's nothing you've done."

"Then speak to me," he sounded a little bit upset. "Please."

I kept my head down and marched ahead.

"Marceline!" He finally snapped, grabbing my wrist in his hand and spinning me around to talk to him. "Will you fucking listen to me? You don't have to prove yourself to anyone! If they think you can't do anything because you got shot in the goddamn leg then fuck them! Their opinions don't mean anything."

I looked away from his face and pulled my hand to get out of his grasp.

"Marcey please, _please_ talk to me," he sounded both angry and upset, a feeling I knew well. "I don't know what I've done to make you so mad at me, or what anyone else has said that's made you like this, but you need to know that-"

"Run," I whispered, interrupting his speech.

"Run?" He shook his head in disbelief before following the direction my eyes were in.

A parade of walkers scrambled their way through the trees and toward the train track.

"Run!" I shoved his chest and we ran through the woods to warn the others. My heart raced as the train came into sight, the pain in my leg screaming out for me to stop putting pressure on it.

"Everybody move!" I yelled, hoping everyone would hear me.

"Marceline!" Travis pushed me and I fell to the side, tripping over my own feet but managing not to fall.

Travis was punching a walker in the head before running with me again. We cleared the woods and got closer to the train.

"Ben!" Travis shouted, drawing his attention.

"Guys, there's something coming," Ben told the group.

"Everybody go! Come on!" I screamed.

"We gotta go!" Ben ran up the train to collect everybody.

"Get in the train!" Travis instructed me, helping me into it as the walkers got closer. "I'm gonna help out with the tanker!"

"Travis, be careful," I said, my eyes burning into his. He nodded his head once and ran.

The tanker still hadn't been cut down, and he climbed the ladder onto the bridge quickly.

Clementine and Ben rushed into the train.

"Where's Travis?" Clem asked.

"Helping with the tanker," I replied, peeking my head out from the train to see the walkers just a short distance away from our train.

I held onto the walls quickly as the train began to move, but I could still see Lee, Omid and Travis on the bridge. The tanker had fallen and was leaking out liquid. I moved into another empty car in the train alone to see better.

We started lengthening the distance between the walkers and the train. Suddenly the liquid on the floor caught fire, which I hoped would keep some of the walkers back a bit.

We began to pass the bridge and there was a small thump on the roof. Then another. And the third sound resulted in a cry.

"Omid!"

Christa ran past the moving train, and I stuck my head out to see Omid lying on the floor and the walkers catching up. Lee lowered himself into the train with me.

Suddenly, Travis jumped from the roof of the train and aided in Omid's rescue attempt.

He helped Omid to his feet before running behind him to ensure Omid got on the train safely. Christa ran alongside them and Lee put a hand out of the train to pull them up.

Lee grabbed Omid's hand, dragging him into the train.

"No! Her, not me!" Omid cried. Christa and Travis fell back. "Christa, no!"

The man turned to Lee. "You piece of shit! She's a woman! Don't you know-"

Christa heaved herself up into the train.

"Travis!" I shouted, putting my hand out of the train.

He had wide eyes, full of panic and fear. His arm stretched out to grab mine, our fingers just reaching each other, until Lee flew to our help and Travis grabbed both of our hands. We pulled him up onto the train and he lay flat on his back, breathing heavily as I stared at him in the shock of the events.

"What an adrenaline rush," he panted, trying to get his breath back.

I giggled and punched him lightly in the arm.

Travis sat up in front of me, smiling softly.

"You're not hurt, right?"

He shook his head but looked at my leg which had begun to bleed from the running. "You on the other hand..."

"I'll be fine. I'm just glad everyone got out of that alive."

Travis put up a hand to move a stray strand of hair that had fallen over my face. Lee coughed. Travis moved backwards. I tried to ignore my face blushing as I stared at the floor.

"That was a lot of them," Christa stated.

Clementine appeared in the doorway with a concerned look on her face. "Are you hurt?"

"No," Lee answered her. "We're okay."

"Speak for yourself! My leg is fucked," Omid raised his voice.

"We're fine, Clementine. We're fine," Christa reassured strongly.

* * *

><p>The car of the train was empty apart from Travis, Ben and I. Omid and Christa stayed in the same car they'd been in since the walker threat, and Clementine went with Lee to the front of the train where Kenny and Chuck were.<p>

I rested my head against the wall, looking out of the train as the trees become a blur in the movement of the vehicle. My injured leg was stretched out in front of me while the other was bent upwards, my arm resting on it.

Travis was asleep opposite me, his head lolled to the side and half resting on the wall next to him. He'd been asleep for a while, and I was glad because he needed the rest. Everybody needed to sleep.

I missed the days at the motor inn. We felt safe there before the bandits became a threat. Walkers couldn't get in, we had food (most of the time), water at the start, and a warm bed to rest in. I wanted it back.

The best thing about the train was the calm of it. The constant movement without stopping made us feel like there was no danger of walkers or anything, the only problems being the ones we'd already encountered. I hoped that'd be the last of it.

Ben was silent, his head buried in his hands again and a dejected expression on his face.

"Hey," a gravelly voiced Travis greeted, awakening from his sleep.

I looked over to where he sat, a glowing smile was on his face and I returned it.

"Hi."

"Have I missed anything?" He enquired.

"Nope," I shook my head. "I think most people are just trying to sleep while Kenny and Lee keep at the controls."

Travis glanced at Ben. "You okay, bud?"

Ben faced him, frown and all. "I'm not doing anything good for the group."

"Ben-"

"No!" Ben shot before his old classmate could speak. "Don't deny it. I know everybody is thinking the same thing. All I've done is put people in danger."

"Hey," I shuffled over to where he sat and put an arm around his shoulders in a weird hug. "We all make mistakes. We can only move on from it. They're in the past now and we gain nothing from thinking about it all of the time."

Ben leaned into my hug, putting his arms back around me. Travis cleared his throat but I didn't move, despite how awkward the hug was.

"Is that Savannah?" Travis quizzed.

I released Ben from the hug and looked out of the train, a city entering my view.

"It is!" I beamed. "I came here once when I was younger for a cousin's wedding. I was a bridesmaid."

"That's really lovely," Ben told me.

I shrugged. "I fell over in my shoes during the ceremony."

The two boys chuckled.

"Only you," Travis smiled.

"I know, right?" I grinned back. "Please tell me you guys have embarrassing stories too."

Ben and Travis looked at each other.

"No!" Travis said to Ben in a threatening way when the younger boy raised an eyebrow. "Something different."

"I think Marcey will like that story," Ben smirked.

"Tell me, Ben!"

Ben nodded his head.

"Okay so at a homecoming dance, Travis went with this really popular girl, Becky Adams. She was like... Regina George."

"She wasn't that bad," Travis defended.

Ben raised an eyebrow but moved on. "Anyway, so Travis was a little bit ill on that day, but knew he couldn't just not go. Becky had this light pink dress on, brand new and amazing. Travis drank some punch to try and ignore how bad he felt. There was dancing, obviously, and people were watching them because Becky was so admired, but-"

"Long story short, I threw up on her," Travis groaned.

My hands flew to my mouth and I desperately tried not to laugh. "Oh my God."

"The dress was ruined and Becky never spoke to him again. It was the highlight of homecoming," Ben began to laugh.

I joined in.

"It was so embarrassing," Travis hid his face behind his hands although there was still laughing from him.

"I don't really blame her for not talking to you again," I giggled.

Travis removed his hands from his face, which had now turned a shade of pink itself, and shook his head.

"Aww, you're blushing," I highlighted, making his face even more red.

"You're the same colour as the punch bowl from the dance," Ben joined in.

Travis punched his arm. "You guys are so mean."

I gave Travis a cheesy grin. "You're too cute. A cat called Petal and you blush the colour of a tomato."

"Shut up," he hid his face again while Ben and I laughed as the train sped into the city we hoped would provide us with a boat for safety.


	10. Savannah

The streets of Savannah were desolate. The wind howled and whistled, its force stinging me like a swarm of angry bees. Our group walked to where we hoped to find a boat. I pleaded in my head for us to be safe and walker-free.

"Can't I just hold it?" Clementine begged Lee again, not long after she'd asked before. Her walkie talkie had been confiscated by the man for unknown reasons. "Just for a little while. We're getting real close to where my mom and dad are, maybe I can-"

"Not now, Clementine," Lee interrupted her. "Maybe later, okay?"

"Okay."

"How's Omid?" I asked Christa.

"His leg is pretty bad," she told me.

"I'm fine," the man insisted.

"You're not fine, you need to rest," she turned to Lee. "He needs to rest."

"Kenny?" Lee asked. "How much farther until the river front?"

"Should be just a few more blocks up ahead."

"And that's where we'll get our boat?" I questioned, feeling the pressure in my leg from the walking.

"I hope so," Lee kept focused on the road ahead.

"There'll be boats there. Have to be," Kenny sounded like he was in a daze. "Have to be."

I looked at Travis who was also glancing at me with an expression of doubt. Ben noticed.

"It's going to be okay. Kenny knows what he's doing."

A bell began ringing from a church next to us.

"What the hell?"

"Maybe this city isn't so dead after all," Christa stated.

"What time is it?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Keep moving," Kenny commanded. "Nobody is ringing that bell, it's automatic on a timer."

Lee shook his head. "What kind of church bell goes off at twenty past the hour?"

Everybody looked confused.

"Someone's up there!" Lee exclaimed.

"Are you sure?" Ben checked. "I don't see anything."

"We should get going," I suggested. "Sound draws walkers."

"If I were you, I'd get out of the street. Now," an anonymous voice spoke. Everybody looked at the walkie talkie Lee was carrying.

"I thought you said that thing didn't work!" Christa accused.

"Does it matter?" I rushed. "Right now, we should listen to that voice. We're not safe here!"

"Ask not for whom the bell tolls," Chuck ominously began.

"What are you yammerin' on about?" Kenny snapped.

"It tolls for thee."

Everybody followed Chuck's gaze and spotted the walkers rounding the corner towards us.

"Let's move!" I instructed.

"Follow me!" Kenny began running ahead and we followed, killing any walkers we could as we went.

I shrieked, collapsing to the floor as a crawling walker held into the bullet wound. I kicked at it with my good leg, heart racing and adrenaline pumping.

It's head exploded in front of me with a gunshot and I shuffled backwards in fright.

I turned my head and nodded once at Kenny before he carried on sprinting to safety and I followed.

"Ben!"

"Ben, help her!"

I saw my two friends being cornered by walkers. Ben looked conflicted, from Clementine to Kenny. And then he ran.

"What the fuck?!" I yelled, racing over to the little girl despite having nothing to kill any walkers with.

I hit one in the knees, making it fall to the ground before stomping on its head.

I heard gunshots next to me as walkers fell, and then Chuck appeared with a shovel in hand.

"Get the hell out of here, I'll catch up with you!" Chuck buried his shovel in a walker.

I nodded, grabbing the girl's hand and taking her to Lee before the three of us ran.

"Move your asses, River Street's right up ahead!"

"Along with a fuck load of walkers!" Travis warned. A large group of walkers appeared from where we were heading.

"Oh, gimme a fuckin' break!" Kenny demanded to the walkers.

I turned my head back around to the man with the shovel. "Chuck, come on!"

"There's no time! We've gotta go now," Kenny shot out.

The man looked back at us, still hitting walkers away with his shovel. "I'll be fine, just go!"

I felt awful, but a hand caught mine and I was dragged along with the rest of the group, running towards a garden with a gate. We ran up the stone path and through the metal opening, Lee closing it behind us as we got inside.

"I'll get the door," Kenny said.

Omid cried as he hit the floor with a thump.

"You've opened up your wound, you're bleeding," Christa stated, examining his leg. "Shit, that's going to get infected. We need to get him inside and clean him up."

Lee nodded and went to check with Kenny, Ben and Travis about the door.

I stood holding onto my own leg, which was ridiculously painful. I lowered myself to the floor and kept the pressure on my wound, hoping it would ease the pain.

"How long does it take for an infection to set into the wound?" I asked Christa.

She turned and noticed me holding my own leg. "Quickly if it's exposed and not clean. You hurt your own leg?"

"Bullet wound a few days ago. I've changed the bandage since then, so it should be fine, right?" I checked.

"You've still got those dirty clothes on though, did you find anything to treat the injury?"

I shook my head.

Christa groaned. "We'll check it immediately. Lee? Any chances of that door opening quicker?"

Lee shook his head and began looking around for a way in.

I scanned my eyes around. "What about that pet door?"

"I tried it already," Ben sighed. "That's locked too."

"Who the hell ever heard of a locked doggie door?" Kenny raised an eyebrow.

"I have," Omid answered. "My neighbour had one just like that. It's radio controlled, the dog wears a collar with a chip in it so the door only opens when the dog gets close to it."

"Well, shit, every day's a school day."

"Clever," I raised both eyebrows.

"Alright, so... where's the dog?" Ben looked at Travis.

Travis' eyes drifted to the kennel near where I sat and then to the cross that stuck out from the ground.

"Oh."

Lee took a shovel and began digging up the dirt mound in hopes of finding the collar. I stood up.

Clementine wandered over. "What's buried down there?"

"Keep away from that," I told her.

The girl took a step back.

"Clementine, honey, come sit with me and Omid. Let Lee work," Christa brought Clem with her to Omid.

I risked a small glance into the grave, something catching my eye.

I walked away, looking down at the floor and ignoring the shooting pains in my leg and the lump in my throat. It brought back too many bad memories.

"Not good?" Travis put a hand on my arm as I leaned on the wall, facing away from the grave.

"I..." My voice was small like a whisper. "I didn't get to bury Sammi."

"I'm sorry," he apologised.

There were sounds of vomiting and gasping behind us.

Lee walked back to the door and I turned around to face him, forcing back the tears from my eyes.

"Here goes nothing," Lee bent down and held the collar to the pet door.

It clicked and unlocked.

"Yes!" Kenny cheered happily. "Goddamn."

"Now how do we open the door?" I wondered.

"I don't-"

Before anyone could stop her, Clementine crawled through the door.

"Clementine!" I gasped.

"Clem? God dammit get back here!" Lee panicked. "Clementine!"

The door opened.

"Ta-da!" She grinned, enthusiastically throwing her arms in the air like she'd performed a circus trick.

"God job, Clem!" Lee smiled.

"Yeah, way to go!" Ben praised.

"I did good, right?" She folded her arms.

"Clementine," I lowered my voice, not wanting to ruin her happiness but worried about her taking a risk like that again. "You did really good then, but you've got to be careful and check it's safe before running inside like that, okay?"

She nodded her head, the smile fading a tiny bit.

"You're okay though, so that was great," I brightened my face up and she did the same.

"Can we maybe have this conversation inside?" Omid stood up with trouble. "My leg's starting to hurt like hell."

Kenny checked that it was clear before inviting the rest of us inside.

Omid hobbled over to the sofa and lay down. I struggled my way over to a chair and sat on it, noticing the fresh blood that was appearing on my leg from the wound.

"Trav?" I placed my hands on the wound and let out a small cry. "Can you check if the water works?"

He nodded and ran into the kitchen while Ben looked around the floor of the house and Christa argued with Lee and Kenny.

Travis returned, shaking his head. "No water, I did find this though."

He waved a roll of bandages and some antiseptic in his hands.

"No way!" I beamed, delighted.

"We can use some of this on you and Omid and then keep the rest for any other problems. You've still got the other roll of bandages?"

"Not much of it, enough for a small wound but I think that's all it'll cover," I returned.

"Wanna do it yourself?" Travis enquired, holding out the supplies.

I took them gratefully, glad he understood that I wanted to look after myself and not be a bother. There wasn't much left of the antiseptic, so I used only a small amount. I quickly and painfully cleaned away the blood, wincing and biting my lip but trying to stay brave. It could have been worse, a lot worse, if I'd been shot in a different part of the leg.

When the injury was redressed, I gave the supplies to Christa so that she could treat Omid with what was left. It looked like we'd have nothing left after then.

"Place seems secure at least," Ben reassured us.

"I'll feel better when we know for sure. We need to check the whole house," Christa decided.

Lee, Kenny and Ben went to look upstairs while Christa stayed with Omid. Clementine, Travis and I sat in a different room alone to stay out of the way.

Clem looked around while I sat on the floor leaning against a wall with Travis.

"I hope Chuck made it."

He looked at me with sad eyes. "Yeah. He was an alright guy."

"He knew how to survive, he told Lee to get our hair cut. I miss my long hair," I sighed.

Travis smiled. "I think it's adorable."

"Shut up," I pushed him playfully, unable to stop the smile appearing on my face.

He wrapped a comforting arm around me and gently picked up my hand with his other. His head rested on mine. The way we sat was warm and safe. I decided that I could stay like that forever.

"Do you think she's going to be okay?" Travis asked me after a few minutes of silence filled only by breathing.

I looked over to Clementine who now looked bored. "I really hope so."

She walked over to us, not hearing our conversation. "I'm going to go and check Omid and Christa, is that okay?"

"Sure, sweetie," I said and she left the room.

Travis moved slightly and I looked up at him. He was watching me, his pupils dilated and his eyes flicking from each of my own.

"What's up?" I giggled, a little uncomfortably as he looked like he was hiding something or wondering what to say.

"I'm... I was just trying to see your face. When you're relaxed, I mean. It sounds weird, I know," he chuckled awkwardly and looked away.

"No, explain it to me," I pleaded, using my hand to move his face so he had to see me.

"Uh," he stuttered. "It's like, I feel like if I see you looking relaxed it's more normal. It's kind of like how I would see you if the apocalypse hadn't happened, you know?"

I nodded my head. "That makes sense. But if this whole thing hadn't happened, I wouldn't have met you. I think that's one good thing from this."

He thought about it for a second. "You're right. Do you think it'll ever stop?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "I wish it would. Preferably soon. How will it stop though? The only thing we could possibly do to get away from it is a vaccine to stop us turning when we die and then we'd have to go some place new and start over, I guess."

"That would be brilliant," he sighed. "I'm scared."

"You're scared?" I pulled out of his arms so I could see his face completely. He looked a little defeated and empty, lost like a small child in a supermarket that can't find their parent.

"Yeah. I hate that I don't know who will survive the longest out of our group. I don't want..." He trailed off.

"You don't want what?"

"I don't want to be the next one, or the last one, and I don't want to lose you or Ben or Clem, anyone."

I frowned. "Then we're just going to have to do everything we can to make sure that doesn't happen."

Travis agreed with my statement, even if we both did know that it was a virtual certainty more people would die. We'd already lost a lot of people, we would lose more. It was one of the many consequences of an apocalypse. That was just how it went.


	11. Supplies

The house was empty of walkers, except one that was found in the attic. We didn't want to talk about it. The walker was a small boy, sickly thin and shockingly resembling Duck. I avoided any ideas in my head of Duck being one of the undead and trying to kill people. The thought of it broke my heart.

Lee buried the kid outside in the same grave as the dog. I was glad he got a burial, and at least it was with something loved. I pushed away the images in my head of the dead people I knew wandering around the streets where I once lived. I tried to forget the pictures planted in my brain of my dog as the walkers got her, and the noises that rang in my ears, becoming a permanent feature in my memories. I blocked the mentally generated thoughts of the things I had not seen but knew to have happened; Carley's abandoned corpse being devoured on a roadside, Larry being destroyed in a cannibal home, Mark desperately crying for our help, and my parents as the monsters they'd tried to keep me safe from.

Everything was too much for me. I wasn't sure how I was coping, how anybody was coping. Maybe we weren't. Everyone was probably dying inside, wishing for the end of the apocalypse to come sooner, dreaming of normality being restored. But that wouldn't happen.

"Hey! Hey!" Lee yelled outside.

I ran outside, my leg feeling improved since being cleaned and rested. Other members of the group joined.

"Who are you? What the hell do you want from us?!" Lee shouted out to nothing through the fence.

"Lee, what's happening?" I walked closer.

"I saw someone standing there by the fence. Watching us."

"A walker?" Ben wondered.

"No, too fast," Lee walked back to the rest of us. "Took off like a bat out of hell when I spotted him."

"Was it a man or a woman?" Christa quizzed.

Lee shrugged. "Didn't get a good enough look."

"Why would it matter?" Travis asked.

"It could have been the voice on the radio," I realised.

"Exactly," Christa nodded.

The door opened to the house and a man with sad eyes and a miserable face walked out.

"Kenny?" I reached a hand out slowly.

"I'm fine," the man answered. "Just... I'm fine. What's all the ruckus?"

"Lee spotted a guy outside the gate," Travis told him.

"What? Who?" Kenny seemed worried and a little surprised.

"I can't be sure. They took off before I could get a good enough look."

"I don't like this one bit. Not one bit," Ben shook his head, his voice trembling a little.

"Me either. Walkers are one thing, but the thought of someone out there actually stalking us..." Christa agreed.

"All right, that's it!" Kenny snapped, his voice getting stronger and more authoritative. "We've stuck around here long enough. It's time to get back on track, time to get down the river and find ourselves a boat."

"I don't know if Omid's well enough to move yet," Christa said. "Marceline shouldn't be putting too much stress on her leg either."

I shot Christa a glare before thinking about the fact she was probably right. I did need to rest my leg and recover, because otherwise it could get worse and then I really would be a waste of energy to the group. Thankfully, Christa didn't see my face.

Kenny looked angry but then sighed when he saw me shift my weight off my injured leg. "We'll move out when the boat is ready, so you'll have to get healed before then."

"You wouldn't have to wait for me," I stated. "If I can't keep up with everybody else then you have to go without me. Rules of survival, right?"

"We're not going anywhere without you," Travis replied, his voice loud.

"Travis is right, Marceline. We can't leave you behind," Lee smiled a little.

"Okay," I responded, although I was determined to keep my own idea that I would be left behind if needs be. "Go get that boat then."

Kenny smiled. "What are we waiting for?"

"I'll go get my stuff," Ben went to move back into the house before Kenny stopped him.

"No, Ben. You'll only slow us down. Lee and I can go scout the river while the rest of you get ready to move out. You stay behind."

"Wait, can't I come?" Clementine pleaded, suddenly appearing. "My mom and dad can't be far now, maybe we can look for them on the way to the river!"

"Clementine, honey, I think it'd be best if you stayed behind with everybody else and help get ready to move out," Lee told her.

"You said I'm supposed to always stay close to you!" Clementine complained to him.

"I know, it's just this once. Sometimes we have to put aside what we want for the good of the group. Hey, don't worry. I'll be back before you know it, okay?"

"Okay," Clementine sounded defeated and disappointed.

"Clem, you can help search the house one last time for supplies with Travis, Ben and I?" I suggested.

She nodded.

"Daylight's burning," Kenny stated. "Gonna go grab my gear, then we'll head out."

"Let's go, Clem," Travis said and we walked inside the house.

* * *

><p>Ben didn't really want to take part in the search for supplies.<p>

"Watch Clem while we go check the bathroom?" I asked him, knowing he felt as useless as I did and that wasn't a good thing.

He nodded.

Travis sighed and we went upstairs towards the bathroom.

"What's up with him?" I pulled a handle on a cabinet, rattling it but not opening it. It was locked.

"I don't know. I think he's annoyed that he's got to stay here instead of helping with the boat," Travis shrugged. "I found a key."

"Try it on this door," I instructed.

Travis put the key in the lock and twisted it, successfully opening the door and looking inside.

"Nothing of much use here," he inspected. "Oh, toothpaste! There's also a packet of four brushes unopened."

I took the objects from his hands and smiled happily. "That's a relief. Only four though, and I don't think sharing them sounds particularly nice."

"We could keep it a secret," he suggested, a sly smile appearing on his face.

"Travis," I told him off, hitting him over the head lightly with the toothbrush packet. "We can check with the others what to do. Anything else in there?"

"Uhhh," he pulled out a bottle of mouthwash. "Yes!"

"This is great," I beamed. "Fancy leaving all of this stuff here. Thank you, previous home owners."

Travis chuckled and began looking again. "There's also a packet of band-aids and a can of deodorant."

"We should take all of this, it'll be useful."

He agreed, passing me the items and closing the cabinet again.

We did a final sweep of the bathroom, hoping to find something else. We didn't.

"Let's check around for bedrooms," I tried a door handle, opening it. "We could find a backpack to carry this all in and maybe even some new clothes."

I stepped into the room cautiously. It was dark, the window covered with boards. I flicked the light with a giggle, knowing it wouldn't work.

"Worth a check."

I made my way to a dresser, opening a drawer and finding clothes inside. The first few items were small, child sized, so I presumed I was in the boy's bedroom that had been found earlier. I felt a bit wrong to be taking his belongings.

"Travis, will any of this fit people?" I threw some items of clothing out of the drawer and onto the bed.

My friend held up the items individually, examining their size.

"There's some jeans here," he picked them up. "I guess Clem could grow into them. Everything else looks far too big, more like adult clothes."

"Maybe this isn't the boy's room and was just a guest room or something," I supposed.

"It's likely," he agreed. "You could fit into this t-shirt, I think?"

I looked at the black top and took it from him, looking down at my own t-shirt which was destroyed from the months of wearing it and ruining it. "I'll be glad to get rid of this disgusting thing."

"There's a skirt, too."

"Impractical," I continued my search. "Look under the bed?"

Travis did while I closed the drawer and stood on the tips of my toes to reach a shelf. I wasn't very tall, but I wasn't short either. I was more of the average height for my age. The person who set up the shelf must have been a giant, I decided. I tried to lift myself up onto the drawers to gain some height.

"There's a backpack down here!" Travis exclaimed happily, pulling it out from the bed. "What on earth are you doing? Let me."

I pulled a face as Travis stretched up to the shelf being taller than me.

"I could do it," I muttered.

"Do you want to?" He asked, moving away from the shelf.

"Well it doesn't matter now because you can reach," I shrugged.

Travis groaned, and before I knew it I was being lifted off the ground and held up.

"You know, you look a lot lighter than you are," he struggled as I looked on the shelf, finding nothing but a thick coat of dust and a brown teddy bear.

"Thanks," I said sarcastically. "You can let me down now."

Travis put me back on the floor and brushed his hair back with one hand, passing the backpack to me at the same time.

"This will be good for our supplies. I think we're done here, don't you?"

"Yeah," Travis agreed. "Let's go check on Ben."

"I'm gonna change my shirt," I headed towards the bathroom. "I'll meet you down there, okay?"

"Okay," he smiled, disappearing from my sight.

I closed the bathroom door behind me and took off my red hoodie, which had definitely seen better days. I took my top off and caught sight of my body in the mirror, immediately gasping. The lack of food had started making my bones visible where they shouldn't have been, my skin looked even more pale than my face did, and I had various bruises formed from the fights with walkers, falls and bumps over the past few months.

A loud hammering on the door made me jump. "Just a second!" I pulled the black shirt over my head and hooked the hoodie over my arm.

The door kept knocking so I flung it open, faced with Travis who looked worried.

"Clementine's gone!"


	12. Discoveries

"What the fuck do you mean?!" I screamed, pushing past him and running down the stairs, barely managing not to fall.

"Clem? Clem where are you?" I panicked.

Ben stared at me with big eyes. I turned to him, grabbing the collar of his jacket and shoving him into a wall. I'd become surprisingly strong during the apocalypse.

"You were meant to be watching her!" I spat. "What the fuck were you doing? She could be out there now getting ripped apart by walkers, she could have been found by the man on the walkie talkie, she could be dead!"

"I'm sorry, I-"

"We don't have time for your shit excuses! We have to find her," I released him from my grip and rushed to the door, flinging it open and being confronted by face of Kenny and... Clementine?

"Kenny, you found her, thank God," I calmed.

"She found us, more like," Kenny smiled. "Christ, Marcey, you look like you've seen a ghost. Did something happen?"

"No," I shook my head. "Clem, you scared the life out of me."

"Sorry."

"It's okay, just... don't do it again, okay?"

"Okay."

I smiled at her and she skipped away to see Christa and Omid.

"Where's Lee?" I asked Kenny. Someone stepped into my sight, a girl in red with blonde hair. "And... who's this?"

"This is Molly. And Lee got separated from us when some walkers attacked, so now we're just waiting for him to get back. Don't worry about him."

I nodded, then looked at Molly and back to Kenny. "Nobody got bit?"

"No, everyone is good. Now let us in, it's not exactly enjoyable waiting out here."

I moved aside so the man and woman could enter in the house. Molly scanned her eyes around straight away.

"You've checked the whole house, right?" She clarified.

"It's all checked. We've just finished with the bathroom and guest room," I told her.

"Mind if I check again? Can't risk leaving any good supplies behind."

"Go ahead," Kenny said before walking away.

Molly looked at me before moving away into a different room.

"I don't feel like we should be trusting her this quickly," Travis whispered to me. "She could be with the radio guy, she might want to attack us and we're just inviting us in here where Clem is. That's not really safe, right?"

"I know. I think the same," I sighed. "But I trust Kenny."

Ben was still stood against the wall, his eyebrows drawn together and an angered look on his face.

I ignored him and walked out of the room to investigate what Molly was doing.

The woman was moving tables out of the way and looking behind them, thoroughly searching every inch of the house.

"So... You're alone?" I tried not to sound like I was interrogating her, but my attempt failed and she narrowed her eyes at me.

"Yes," she responded. "And you are?"

"Marceline."

"Hm. Interesting name."

"Thanks."

"You don't trust me then?" She smirked.

"I've only just met you. It's dangerous to trust those you don't know these days," my mind flashed back to the incident with the cannibals.

"Then how did you end up with all of these people?"

I didn't have an answer.

"Relax," her smile turned friendly. "Come help search the kitchen?"

"Sure," I smiled back. In a way, I was glad she defended herself how she did. It made me feel like I could trust her.

We went to the kitchen and she began opening the cupboards. I sat on the counter and looked in the drawer, finding a knife and deciding to keep it for a weapon.

"How long have you guys been in this place?" Molly wondered.

"Not long," I shrugged, staring ahead at where Travis sat in the other room, packing the backpack with the items we'd found as well as my hoodie which I forgot I'd dropped during my screaming match at Ben.

"It's not safe to stay anywhere too long," she replied.

"Clementine? Clem?"

I jumped off the counter and grinned when I saw the voice's owner. "Lee!"

"Marcey," he smiled back. "Molly?"

"Oh, hey," she stopped looking in the cupboard. "You made it back."

A man stood with Lee raised his eyebrow. "Who's this?"

"He didn't tell you about me?" Molly walked forward, radiating confidence. "I'm the one who saved his ass back at the river. Who's the fossil?"

"This is Vernon, he's a doctor. He helped me get back here after we got separated," Lee stated.

"I'm Marceline," I greeted the stranger.

"I think you have something that belongs to me," Molly put a hand on her hip.

Lee passed the woman a weapon back before she walked away into a different room.

"Lee, thank God you're back," Christa ran down the stairs.

"Christa, what's wrong?"

"It's Omid, he's gotten worse. Much worse."

Lee turned to the doctor. "We have a man wounded, and Marceline here has hurt her leg."

"My leg is fine, Lee," I mumbled.

"Could you take a look at Omid?" Christa asked the doctor. "You have to help us. Please."

Vernon looked at her in the eyes, deciding on his answer. "I'll see what I can do. Take me to him."

I let the trio go and check on Omid while I went back to Travis.

"Want your hoodie?" He asked. I realised that in my frantic race to find Clementine, I had dropped it on the floor.

"No, keep it in the bag. I don't really need it right now."

We stayed silent for a few long minutes.

"Where's Ben? I should probably apologise for being so horrible earlier."

"He's in the other room with Kenny," he answered, moving his head in the direction I was to go.

I smiled and went through the doorway where I saw the two males. They were sat on the sofa and turned to face me as I approached, Kenny giving me a bubbly smile whereas I received a glare from Ben.

"Hey, guys-" I cut off, noticing the bottle in Kenny's hand. "You're drinking?"

"Kenny?" Lee entered the room.

"Oh, hey! You made it back. Good job. Good job," the drunken man slurred.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Lee snapped.

"What does it look like?" He took another gulp of the alcohol.

"Where'd you get the bottle?"

"Found it," Kenny replied in a singsong tone.

"Kenny, put the bottle down. This isn't the time for drinking," I said.

"What the fuck were you thinking letting Kenny get like this?" Lee asked Ben like he was stupid.

"Hey man, I tried, but he gave me a look like he was gonna rip my face off. He won't listen to you, you think he was gonna listen to me?" Ben defended.

"To hell with you!" Kenny shouted.

"Getting wasted's not gonna help anyone," Lee snarled.

"Yeah, well what is?" Kenny raised his arms. "We are fucked!"

He sat down and continued his speech. "Molly said there's not a single boat left in Savannah, no way out. We got walkers all around us, that crazy fuck on the radio messin' with us...hell, if now ain't the time for a drink."

Kenny leaned to Ben and passed him the bottle. The boy went to take it until he felt my eyes burning into him, then refused it.

"Now, has anyone seen Clementine?"

I shook my head. "She went to see Christa and Omid earlier but I've not seen her since. I'll help you look."

"I'm gonna check outside first," Lee sighed. "I'll come get everyone if I don't find her there."

I nodded and let the man leave.

"Ben?" I asked.

"Yeah?" He spoke in a monotonous way.

"I'm sorry."

I walked out of the room and back to where Travis was, sitting down on the sofa next to him with a thump.

I covered my face with my hands and found myself wrapped in his arms.

"Hey, what's up?" He brushed my hair with one hand.

I leaned into his arms and remained silent. "Kenny couldn't find a boat. There are none in Savannah."

"Oh," Travis sighed. "What now?"

"We haven't got a plan. Kenny is in there getting drunk, Clementine keeps vanishing, Omid is really sick, we have nowhere left to go. Our only option is to just leave the cities behind now and travel to the countryside."

"If we even made it that far," he whispered, sadness heavy in his voice.

I buried my face, hugging him back. "Do you think we could? Go somewhere new, I mean."

"If that's what you wanted to do."

"We'd have to discuss it with the group first and figure out where to go," I said.

"Well I'd follow you wherever you want to go," he comforted then paused, deciding to add in another sentence. "In the least creepy way."

I giggled, letting go of him and leaning back into the sofa.

"We've got a boat!" Clementine proudly sang, skipping into the room.

My mouth dropped as I saw the little girl, suddenly returning from her disappearance. "What did you say?"

"There was a boat outside, and Kenny is going to look at it. Ben is helping."

"I should go help, too. I used to go out with my grandpa on his boat, you know," Travis smiled. "He lived by a lake."

"Go help," I pushed him off the sofa and he ruffled my hair before leaving.

"Did the boat look like it'd work?" I asked Clem.

She smiled and nodded back.

"That's amazing. Our luck might have just turned for the better."

* * *

><p><strong>Good or dreadful so far? Be honest! <strong>

**I don't want to be writing chapters that people find boring. So let me know what you're thinking! Do you like Marceline? How about Travis still being alive, is that a bad decision? I want to know what your opinion is! **

**I'll be extremely grateful for reviews, even if they're just predictions about what is going to happen to the rest of the story... What will happen to Marceline? **

**Thank you again for reading this far, you are wonderful. **


	13. Crawford

I sat alone on the window seat of the house, watching Kenny, Ben and Travis outside at the boat. They were there for a long time and there were smiles all around which made me believe everything was going well. Travis noticed me sitting by the window at one point and waved at me, a huge grin on his face. I smiled and waved back, the grin staying on my face even when he looked back to the boat.

I drifted my eyes over the sight past the house, seeing further out into the city. There were dots around the streets that moved, which I presumed were walkers. The skyline was actually quite stunning under the orange glow of the sky. My mind wondered onto Chuck. I knew he sacrificed himself for the rest of us and there was no way he could have made it out alive from the amount of walkers that had us surrounded. It was a shame, since I'd not really had a proper conversation with him. I felt like he would have been good to discuss poetry with, realising that he'd quoted a poem I studied in school when the church bells rang. I hoped that if he did die, it was quick and we wouldn't see him as a walker.

I noticed that the work on the boat was finished and the boys were coming back into the house, so I swung my legs off the seat and went downstairs. I tried not to scream when I bumped into something on the way that squeaked at the collision.

"Clementine," I exhaled, calming myself down. "What are you doing out here? Oh, are you eavesdropping?"

She blushed and nodded her head slowly.

I giggled. "Guess I'll join you then."

We listened to the conversation unfold about the boat and a place called 'Crawford'. I wasn't too sure if it was a safe place, but rarely anywhere was for us anymore. The group did decide that they had supplies there that would benefit us greatly, so the decision to go there was made. When Vernon left the house and Lee spotted Clem and I, I skipped down the stairs to leave them to talk.

"You're going to Crawford?" I asked Kenny.

"We all are, except Clementine and Omid. You don't have to come if you'd rather rest your leg," he replied.

"No," I quickly responded. "I'll come with you."

I felt bad leaving Clementine alone with Omid, but I hoped Lee knew what he was doing by deciding to leave her behind. It was probably safer than taking her to Crawford.

When night came around and darkness fell, the group sat outside looking at maps and having conversations.

"Look what I found in the garage," Kenny said. "Hatchet, hacksaw, some other tools. Might come in handy on this little break-in."

"Nice," Lee replied while Ben went to look at the tools.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Kenny and Lee walked away from the rest of the group, and Travis raised an eyebrow at me.

"How do we distribute these tools?" Ben asked us.

"I've got a gun already," Christa said.

"I've got my weapon," Molly waved it in her hand.

"Lee and Kenny need one. I have a knife."

"You have a knife?" Travis looked shocked that I'd kept it quiet.

I shrugged and smiled.

"Okay, I'll take this hammer," Ben picked it up and swung it in his hands.

"Please don't do that."

Ben stopped, realising he probably would drop it by playing around.

"Screwdriver," Travis picked it up from the toolbox and turned to me. "Remember when you had one of these back at the motor inn?"

"Yeah," I smiled a little. "That bandit kept it."

"Swap?"

"Sure."

Travis and I traded weapons so I had one I was more comfortable using after having been trained to kill walkers with it since the earlier days of the apocalypse.

The gate opened and Vernon came over, accompanied by a woman with dark hair.

"Who the hell is this?" Kenny almost yelled.

"This is Brie," the doctor introduced. "She can help us."

"By?" I asked.

"I was a student at the school where Crawford keeps their supplies. I know the layout," she said.

"With her help we're in and out faster. Anyone have a problem with that?" Vernon questioned, not sounding like we had any other choice.

"No problems," I replied, holding the screwdriver tighter in my hand.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's get moving," Molly pulled her hood up and began walking.

Lee made us wait while he talked with Clementine, giving her the gun to protect herself while we were gone. Ben held out the weapon to him.

"Let's get this over with," Lee snatched it from Ben's hands and left through the gate.

We walked underground to get into Crawford. Vernon knew the way, saying it was the safest way to get in there.

We approached a ladder that lead up and stopped there.

"This should be it. We're right underneath the centre of Crawford. The old school should be directly above us," the old man explained.

"Okay, people, this is it," Lee said. "Remember the plan."

"Stay quiet, stay hidden, stay together," I repeated the plan to the group.

"We get what we need and we get the hell out before anyone even knows we're there. Got it?" Lee checked.

Everybody nodded their heads, and Lee ascended the ladder first. He was followed closely by Kenny and Vernon, with me staying somewhere around the middle of the group.

We ran across the side of a building and hid, concealed by the plants.

"Where is everybody?" Vernon questioned. "There should be guards patrolling."

"What, are you disappointed?" Kenny asked sarcastically.

"It's just strange, is all."

"I think I see one," Christa pointed out. "Over there, by the door."

"Okay, me and Kenny will sneak up, try to take him out quiet. The rest of you wait for our signal then follow us over. Everybody got it?" Lee waited for the responses.

"Gotcha," Travis nodded.

Lee and Kenny went on their way, approaching the guard carefully. My heart raced and my eyes narrowed onto the moving person.

"Shit," I whispered. "That's not a guard!"

I was too late to notice.

"What the fuck?!" Lee cried out when the walker turned around and growled at him

Lee buried the hatchet inside the walker's brain and the group gathered together again.

"What the fuck is a walker doing in here?" Lee wondered.

"Move!" Travis commanded, pointing to the group of walkers now standing up and heading towards us.

"Get inside now!" Lee instructed, and the group ran up the steps into the building, closing the doors behind us.

Thankfully, the coast seemed clear, and we ran up the stairs. There were more doors that we tried to keep shut.

"Fuck. Fuck! Do you think they saw us?" Kenny demanded.

"They're not that stupid," I brushed a hand over my forehead. "We need to get a move on."

"They looked right at us," Travis sighed. "Let's go quickly."

Ben put his hands behind his head and paced around. "Shit!"

"What the hell happened here?" Christa enquired. "I thought this place was supposed to be secure!"

"What always happens, I guess. In the end, the dead always win," Molly stated.

"Oh, man. We are so screwed," Ben paced even more.

"Ben," I said. "Calm down."

"I can't calm down, we're trapped!"

"We don't know that yet," Travis shot back. "Stop pacing like an idiot and fucking help."

"So long as we don't let 'em box us in, we can still do this," Kenny spoke. "The plan hasn't changed."

"The plan hasn't changed?" Ben asked, getting closer to Kenny. "Every time walkers show up the plan changes. Do you have any idea how many of them are out there?"

"No, do you want to do a headcount? Or do you wanna get what we need and get the hell out of here?" Christa snapped.

Brie walked away. "Come on, I think I know which way to head."

"I got a bad feeling about this," Ben complained.

Travis punched him in the arm and the group walked together up the corridor.

There was a boarded door with groaning sounds coming from behind it.

"Just keep moving," Molly forced, making us continue the journey.

We approached another room a few steps away which Brie stopped in front of. "Here."

Lee checked the room first.

"Looks okay," he told told us. "Everybody in."

We entered the room that was decorated like a children's classroom. The crayon drawings on the walls reminded me of my childhood years, which now seemed a lifetime ago, almost like they didn't even exist and were just dreams. A door had a sign over it saying 'armory' and Lee checked the handle. It didn't budge.

"Figures," he sighed.

"Looks like they were using this room as some sort of command centre," Kenny commented as he looked around the walls.

Molly moved forward. "Okay, so now what? Where do we start looking?"

"Here," Brie looked at a sign. "Just give me a sec."

"What about the medicine?" Christa asked.

Molly tapped on the map. "Right here, nurse's station. They were using it as a medical facility."

"How do you know that?"

"Just, it makes sense, doesn't it?" Molly recovered. I decided to ignore the hesitation.

"Fuel, where's that going to be?" Travis pondered.

"There's a maintenance shed across from the playground. If they were storing fuel that's probably where it'll be."

"So then we just need a battery," Lee pointed at the map himself. "This auto shop, it's right next door."

"Yup, it's called Herman's, you can't miss it."

Kenny began calling out the plan. "Okay, I'll make the run to the maintenance shed for the fuel."

"It'll be faster if I go with you, I can take you right to it," Brie suggested.

"I'll come too," Ben said.

"No, two people's enough," Kenny told him. "You stay here and see if you can use those tools we brought to get the armory door open. We may need to shoot our way out of here."

"I'll get the medicine," Christa decided.

"I'll come too, I know what to take," Vernon said.

"That just leaves the battery."

"I'll go," Lee opted.

"I'll go with you," Molly nodded. "Watch your back."

"Travis and Marceline, you can try get the door open if you want with Ben," Kenny offered.

I felt a bit rubbish getting the boring job.

"Okay, we've got a plan," Lee said. "Everyone be careful, stay close to one other. We'll all meet back here. Good luck."

The group split up, leaving the three of us alone in the classroom.

I sighed heavily as Ben got to work with the armory door.

"Want some help?"

"I got it," Ben refused. "Just once I'd like to do something useful, you know?"

"I understand," I sat down on the floor and rested my chin on my hand.

"What do you mean 'for once'?" Travis drew his eyebrows together.

"It seems like all I ever do gets us into trouble," Ben admitted.

"Like when?"

Ben looked at me. I nodded once.

"The bandits back at the motel... I was giving them the supplies. Carley, Katjaa, Duck... That blood is all on my hands," Ben confessed to Travis, who now just nodded his head.

"You didn't mean to though. Get them killed?"

Ben furiously shook his head and waved his hands. "No way! I never wanted that. Not ever."

"Good," Travis said. "Because I can forgive that, but if you ever do something so fucking stupid again that endangers one of our lives, I can't promise I'll let it go this easily."

Ben frowned but agreed. "Don't worry. I'm going to try my best not to fuck things up, and if it's not me deciding what I do, it's everybody else."

"I'm sorry, Ben," I sighed.

"Don't be. Thanks for listening guys," he turned back to the lock on the door and tried to get it open.

Travis was staring at me when I looked back at him, his eyes ... disappointed. In me? I raised an eyebrow and he sat down next to me so we were out of Ben's earshot.

"You knew he did that and kept it a secret. Why?"

"It wasn't my story to tell, Travis," I looked at my arms which were frozen and covered in goose bumps.

"Okay. You're like ice, where's your hoodie?"

"Still in the bag back at the house. I was going to give it to Clem because I'd rather her be warm and she said she was cold earlier.

"That's sweet," he smiled. "I'm sure her and Lee would appreciate you doing that."

"I guess so. What can we do to make ourselves useful around here?"

He shrugged. "Ben won't let us help with the door so I guess we could just look around the room for anything useful?"

"Sounds good," I agreed.


	14. History

The classroom was basically empty of useful supplies, so the time we were in there ended up being spent by playing a classic game of I Spy. Ben chuckled at every few comments made between Travis and I but didn't participate in the game, determined to open the door.

After a while, Lee, Kenny and Brie reentered the room with red bottles of fuel.

"How'd you guys make out?" Ben asked, turning around from his door-opening attempt.

"We got the fuel," Kenny lifted one in his hand.

"Awesome! Good job, guys."

"How're you doing with that door?"

Ben sighed. "Not so good."

Kenny put the fuel down and walked towards him. "Here, let me give you a hand," he crouched down and looked at the door before turning back to Lee. "You get that battery yet?"

"Yeah, Molly has it. She should be back here soon," the man responded.

"She'd better be."

Lee went to talk to Brie while I turned back to Travis.

"You think Vernon and Christa are doing okay?"

"Wanna go check?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, sure. We'd have to make sure it's okay with Lee though and see if he wants to come too."

"I know what I'm doing, Marce. I can look after us both."

"I don't doubt it," I replied. "But we can't just go running off like kids. It's dangerous."

Travis searched my eyes then looked down at the floor. "Okay."

I waited until Lee finished talking before wandering over with Travis.

"We want to check on Christa and Vernon," I stated. "They've been gone too long and they had the shortest distance to go."

"That would be wise," Lee agreed. "Are you going alone?"

"Unless you want to come with us, but we're fine I think."

Lee nodded. "It might be good for the two of you to go. If you get into trouble though, act quietly and quickly. Just get the hell out of there and back here, okay?"

"Of course," I smiled, happy he'd let us go without supervision. In a way, I felt a lot less useless.

Travis opened the door to leave the classroom and I followed, pausing only when a hand landed on my shoulder to stop me walking.

"Be careful," Lee commanded, his eyes fixed on mine.

I nodded and closed the door.

The corridor was empty except for some lockers and paper on the floor.

"I kind of miss school," I thought out loud as we walked.

"I know," Travis held the knife I'd traded with him close. "It feels wrong to be in a school when it's so empty like this. Deserted."

"Yeah," I nodded. "I miss learning about literature and history."

"I miss band," Travis sighed. "Football was okay."

"I hated all sports. Kind of ironic now when I have to rely on being fit to fight walkers."

We went around a corner and I hesitated. "Speak of the devil."

"Walkers," he confirmed in a whisper.

We crept forward, going around another corner and being faced with a collection of walkers hitting a door. I stumbled back while Travis ran forward, hiding behind something.

He looked above it, then sunk back down and mouthed words to me. "Nurses office."

I nodded once.

I peeked my head around the corner, looking at the walkers and then back to Travis.

"We have to get them," I mouthed.

He prepared the knife in his hand while I got the screwdriver. I already had the plan.

I banged my fist one of the lockers behind me, drawing in the walkers' attention. Travis signalled that they were coming towards me. My heart raced. What if it went wrong?

A walker turned the corner, looking me in the eyes and began growling ferociously. I stabbed it in the head, making it fall to the floor, before meeting more of them. I leapt out, killing them with Travis until they were all disposed of.

"We did good!" I grinned, looking down at the pile of walkers.

"Yeah," he sounded a bit cold. "It's nothing to really be proud of though, is it?"

I realised what he was saying.

"Let's just to get Christa and Vernon," I sighed, going to open the door.

I pushed it and went inside.

"It's just us!" Travis shouted, stepping at my side instantly and looking to where a gun was pointed at me.

"Christa, are you okay? What happened?" I rushed.

"We're fine. They wandered into the hallway after we got inside. I think they must have heard us rooting around in here. This whole place is infested, they're everywhere!"

"It's cool," Travis reassured her. "We got the ones outside. Did you find the meds?"

"That's our other problem," Vernon complained, walking over to the other side of the room. "Take a look."

Travis walked over to where Vernon was and tried the handle of a safe.

"Locked," he snarled.

"Can you pick locks?" I hoped.

"It's a combination lock. I guess we could try, but it'll take a while."

"I'll have a search for anything useful. Maybe they kept the combination somewhere?"

Ha. In my dreams.

I followed my hopes anyway and began searching everywhere. On a desk was a medical file which I flicked open half-heartedly. There was a tape inside.

"No combination here, but I found a tape," I told them.

"That's brilliant but will it help us get the safe open?" Christa snapped. "I doubt it."

I rolled my eyes and recommenced my search.

"Oh my gosh," I beamed. "A camcorder!"

"You gonna make a documentary of the apocalypse or something?" Travis asked in a distracted voice.

"I was going to play the tape on it. Come look."

I slotted the tape into the side and pressed play.

The tape showed a woman's medical consultation. I put a hand over my mouth as the doctor told the lady her baby would be terminated against her wishes.

"What the hell kind of place was this?" Christa cried.

"I don't know. I'm glad it's not like that now," I turned the camcorder off.

I looked everywhere in the room, finding nothing at all to help with the safe.

"I'm gonna ask Lee for help," I decided. "I'll be quick."

"You're not going alone," Travis said.

"I am. You stay and keep working on this lock, I'm literally only going around the corner and I have my screwdriver," I told him, waving the weapon in my hands. "I'll be fine."

He groaned in annoyance but also looked sad. "Stay safe and hurry."

"I will," I smiled, running out of the office.

I went down the corridors, passing the pile of walkers and trying to ignore it, then arrived back at the classroom.

"Hey, Lee? We could use some help," I closed the door behind me.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"The meds are in a locked safe. I found a tape with a doctor on it and he was near it, so I guess he might have something on him to open it. Now we just need to find him."

"A doctor... I know where to go," he said, marching out of the door.

I followed him closely as we went outside and into an alleyway. There was a small shed up ahead of us which Lee walked into before being pushed back by a walker.

"Look out!" I stabbed it in the head.

"Thanks," Lee pushed it onto the floor. Something fell off a shelf and splattered its head.

"I think I'm gonna be sick," I groaned, following Lee and pulling myself up onto some shelves.

We reached the roof and noticed a barbed wire fence.

"Can you make that jump?" He questioned, looking at my leg.

"I'll be fine," I assured though I wasn't actually sure if I would be.

Lee jumped first, his feet just missing the wire before he landed safely.

"Come on," he waved.

I nodded then leapt. The wire snagged part of my jeans, tearing through them and cutting my good leg. I hoped it was just a small cut. I landed rather disgracefully, hitting the floor on my stomach and just avoiding damaging my face by putting my hands out, effectively dropping the screwdriver while doing so.

"Are you alright?" He helped me up and picked up the weapon.

"I'm fine," I laughed, taking the weapon back and ignoring the blood leaking from my new injury. My jeans really weren't the best looking clothes anymore.

There was a walker just ahead of us, dragging itself along the floor. Lee killed it before it was aware of our presence, and then pulled a disgusted face.

"That's him, that's the doctor!" I exclaimed.

Lee searched the corpse and held out another tape.

"It's got a code on it," he pointed out.

"Awesome. Let's get back to the others, shall we?" I suggested. "Travis will be worried sick."

A walker approached. "Shit. Time to go," Lee began running and I did the same, returning back to the school.

* * *

><p>"Hey," I stopped in the hallway on the way back to the others. "You don't think that combination is for a locker, do you? I mean, that's just a guess based on the blood here and the blood in the nurses office."<p>

"Only one way to find out," Lee shrugged and moved to the locker, unlocking it with the combination. Another tape caught my eye immediately.

"A tape!" I picked it up. "Let's go show them."

We walked back into the nurses office and all heads turned to us.

"Thank God, you're alright," Christa smiled. "Your boyfriend has been stressed ever since you left."

I blushed and so did Travis.

"She... we're... she's not my-"

"We found two more tapes," I quickly changed the topic, walking over to the camcorder and putting a tape on.

This time it showed the doctor being stabbed by the girl.

"Wow," I mumbled, my eyes wide in shock.

"I think we know what happened to Crawford," Lee commented.

"More importantly, we got the combination," Vernon said, referring to the part of the video where the doctor went to open the safe, his hands visible to the camera.

"That was lucky."

Christa walked to the window, small sobs coming from her. I gestured for the boys to get the meds from the safe while I went over to talk to her.

"Christa?" I softly put a hand on her arm. "What's wrong?"

She wiped her tears away. "I'm sorry. It's... It's nothing. Let's get those meds."

"I'm here if you need someone to talk to," I comforted. She smiled slightly at my words and nodded her head in thanks.

"We're in business," Vernon stated, opening the safe. "Antibiotics, morphine... we'll take as much of this as we can carry."

I wished I'd brought my backpack from the house.

Vernon collected it all.

"Okay, I think we're good. This is more than enough for your people and mine. Let's go!"

"We should have a look at the third tape," I shrugged. "In case there's something useful?"

Christa and Vernon left, telling us not to take too long. I put the tape in the camera and pressed the play button.

"Molly," I gasped when the familiar face appeared on the tape.

"Well, shit."

* * *

><p>We headed back to the classroom in silence. I shrieked in surprise when a body dropped down from the ceiling above us, landing a few steps away. Travis grabbed me back by my arm, hurting it a little and aiming his knife at the figure, who then turned around.<p>

"Jesus Christ," Lee exhaled. "You scared the shit out of us. Where the fuck have you been?"

"Sightseeing," Molly replied sarcastically.

Lee didn't look amused. "I'll take that battery now."

"Oh, yeah. Uh, about that..." She began.

"What the fuck have you done?" Travis snapped, stalking forward in a threatening manner.

"I'm just kidding," Molly smiled. "Jesus, kid. Lighten up."

"Lighten up?" Travis repeated. "In case you hadn't noticed, we're in the middle of an infected school with walkers blocking our exit. This isn't exactly seeming like the time to lighten up."

Molly ignored him and took the battery from her bag, giving it to Lee.

"What's that?" Lee wondered, nodding to the thing in Molly's hand.

"Nothing."

"It's probably a picture of her Crawford days," Travis shot.

"Travis!" I grabbed his wrist. "What's wrong with you?"

He stared at me then shook his head, blinking. "Doesn't matter."

I let go of his arm and turned away.

Molly looked at us quizzically.

"You care to explain about Crawford then?" Travis questioned her.

Molly sighed. "I used to live here with my sister. She was fourteen years old. When the dead started walking and Crawford shut itself in, it seemed like a pretty good deal at first. We were safe. We had everything we needed to survive. Then the rules started coming down. No-one who couldn't justify their place, earn their keep. No-one who required special care. My sister was diabetic, and by Crawford's rules that made her a liability. I kept it a secret, kept her safe for as long as I could. But in the end, I couldn't protect her. That's when I got out. Crawford, they always talked about how their system worked, how anything was better than becoming 'one of them'. But I saw what they'd already become. I just wish I could have seen it before it was too late. Before they came and took my sister away."

We fell into a silence while the blonde haired girl wiped her eyes. She held out a photograph. "This is all I have left of her. I didn't have time to take it before I got out of Crawford. I just wanted it, okay?"

"It's okay, Molly," Lee replied. "I understand. She's pretty."

A bell rang.

"What the hell?"

"I think that's our cue to get the hell out of here," Lee said.

We walked back towards the classroom and past the door from earlier. Something had changed.

"Hey, Lee? Wasn't there a hatchet in that-"

"Jesus!"

"Woah, shit! Ben!" Lee cried when the boy jumped out at us with a weapon in his hand.

"Sorry," Ben apologised. "I just got spooked by those bells, and then I heard someone coming."

"What the fuck are you doing out here?" Travis asked him.

"Kenny and I still can't get the door open to the armory. He sent me out to look for something we can use to bust it open. I found this!"

"Ben!" I gasped. "That was keeping the walkers out!"

Right as I said that, the door burst open and walkers paraded in, groaning out with the desire to attack us.

"Run!" Travis ordered.

Lee pulled his gun out while Molly raced forward, killing the walkers with ease. Lee shot one and we began to run away, but Ben remained frozen on the spot, hatchet clutched to his chest.

"Ben, we gotta go. Ben!" Lee shouted back at him.

"Ben!" I screamed.

"Move your ass!" Lee commanded.

Ben decided to abandon his post, regaining the life in him and followed us into the classroom.

"What the fuck is going on?" Kenny snapped as the door slammed.

"Walkers are right behind us!" Travis panicked.

"Oh, shit."

Ben passed Lee the hatchet so he could bust the armory door open.

"This is my fault, all my fault," Ben had a look on his face of sheer panic.

"What the hell's he babbling about?" Christa enquired.

"Ben, calm down," I put my hands on his arms.

"No, wait. I want to know what he meant. What do you mean this is all your fault?"

"Kenny, I'm so sorry," the boy stammered, pulling his arms away from me. "I'm so sorry, man."

"Kid, this ain't the best time! Whatever you did, save it for later!" Kenny brushed his apologies away and kept hitting the door.

"I opened the door, I let them in," Ben mumbled.

"Stop it," I instructed.

"Ben, shut the fuck up!" Lee snapped.

"Fuck you both! I can't do this anymore."

"Don't talk to her like that," Travis pushed Ben.

Ben stumbled back but continued his confession. "It's been me all along. Putting all of us in danger. Katjaa and Duck... it was me. It was all me!"

Kenny kicked the door through and shook his head, anger burning in his veins as he turned to look at the teenager. "Wait a minute. What are you saying?"

"It was me who made the deal with the bandits at the motor inn, slipping them supplies. I thought maybe I could keep them off our backs. When it got discovered, that's when they attacked. That's when Duck..."

Kenny charged forward, the only thing stopping him from ripping Ben to shreds being Lee and Vernon.

"Kenny, stop! This isn't the time!" I sobbed, tears now falling from my face.

Kenny hurled insults at Ben, ignoring me entirely.

Eventually, the man went limp and stopped trying to attack.

"Nice group you got here," Molly pointed out sardonically.

"Not the time, Molly!" Lee shot.

"If this asshole thinks he's getting on my boat after what he did, he's out of his motherfucking mind! You hear me, shitbird? You can stay behind and fucking rot!"

"Kenny, stop! We need to leave now!" I yelled.

"The boat's not big enough for all of us," Kenny raged on. "Somebody's gotta get left behind. Might as well be this piece of shit right here!"

"Well, I vote we leave him," Christa decided. "I know you mean well, but all I want to do is get back to Omid. And you put that at risk."

"I'm sorry, Ben," Lee agreed. "I've got to do what's best for the group, and that means cutting you loose."

"What about the rest of us?" Brie wondered from the door. "Don't we get a vote in- Ahhhhh!"

A walker pulled her back, biting her right in front of our faces.

"Get out, now!" I instructed, running towards the door and shoving various bodies to it too.

We got to the armory, which was basically an empty staircase.

"This door won't stay shut," Travis told us, his body against it.

"That's just fucking great. There's got to be a way out down here," Kenny began running down the staircase and we all followed.

Lee opened the door and a walker turned to see us. It was accompanied by a lot more of them.

"Fuck!" Kenny shouted as the door closed.

"That's not gonna hold. Back upstairs!" Lee commanded.

We did as told and ran.

Lee fought off walkers while we got to the top of the tower.

"What are we waiting for?" Kenny asked. "Go! Go!"

Everyone went out through the window of the tower, climbing down a ladder as they went.

Lee turned to Ben before Travis and I descended the ladder. "Ben, come on, let's go!"

Suddenly the bell rang.

"Walker!" I screamed, noticing it hanging down from the bell. I ran forward and grabbed Ben's hand as the walker took him in its arms, pulling the both of us over the side of the stairs. I managed to hold onto the ledge just as Lee shot the walker. Ben did the same and we both hung there for dear life.

Lee looked between the two of us for a millisecond before moving to help me up. I scrambled over the edge to safety while Travis appeared to aid Ben.

"Move it, you idiot!" He ordered.

"Ben, climb up. Come on, you can do it!" Lee said, grasping Ben's arm.

I had to breathe. I knew I could. My lungs were intact and safe, I was safe. I was alive and I could breathe.

I sharply inhaled the air like I'd been deprived of it for hours. Travis snapped his head around to check on me, almost dropping Ben in the process before the boy crawled up over the edge.

"Go, go, go!" Lee ordered, and I found myself climbing out of the window and down the ladder. Above me, I saw Travis, Ben and Lee. They were safe. I was safe. We were all safe.

* * *

><p><strong>Super long chapter! I hope I did this right and it was good enough for you all. <strong>

**Thank you so much to the reviewers, your comments make me so happy! Let me know what you think is going to happen to everyone next and what you want to happen to Marceline in the future. Some reviews said you want this to carry on into Season 2, so how about I let you in on a little secret? I have already written the ending of this season, but I might change it for an alternate ending? **

**If I do change it, would you like to know the original one anyway as a bonus chapter(s)? Tell me what you think! **

**Much love xx**


	15. Lost

"Clementine?" Lee called as we entered the house.

"Lee," I whispered, my eyes falling on the walker that lay ahead, a gunshot wound in its head.

"Clementine!"

The little girl appeared on the staircase. She ran down and embraced Lee in a big hug. The sight was heart warming.

"You made it back!" She beamed.

"Told you I would, didn't I?" He smiled.

"Did you find my parents?"

"Her parents?" Vernon sounded shocked. I was confused about what the man knew, since I'd been told very early that Lee wasn't Clementine's dad.

"No, I'm sorry," Lee told the girl. "Crawford was... there just wasn't time."

"Clem, what happened with that?" I asked, gesturing to the walker.

"It tried to get upstairs. I stopped it."

"Upstairs?" Christa panicked. "Omid?"

We all ran upstairs to where Omid had been left. I waited outside the room while Vernon, Christa, Lee and Clem went inside.

Christa was crying, it sounded like. I leaned into Travis, his arm going around my shoulder instinctively and holding me near. After a minute, we also heard Omid speak. Immediately I felt better and more relaxed to know he was still alive.

I went into the room with the others and Omid studied our faces.

"You okay, kid?" He asked Ben. "You look worse than I do."

"We almost didn't make it out of there because of this asshole," Kenny told the sick man. "Shoulda left him behind when we had the chance."

"Guys, what the hell happened out there?" Omid enquired.

"Let someone else tell ya, I've got work to do," Kenny snapped and left the room.

Lee and Vernon went to talk to each other outside and Clementine left too.

"I'm really glad you're okay, Omid," I smiled.

"Yeah, Christa does nothing but worry about you," Travis added, probably to get back at Christa for the comment back at Crawford.

"I'm glad you're all safe too," he said. "Did you hurt your leg?"

I looked down, noticing the blood extremely visible from the cut caused by the barbed wire.

"Shit, you weren't bit were you?" He sudden widened his eyes.

"What?" Christa looked my way.

"Marcey?" Travis reached out to me, putting his hands on my shoulders.

"I wasn't!" I denied, frightened by their words, which kind of made me feel like I had been bitten. "I got cut on barbed wire."

"Barbed wire?" Christa raised an eyebrow. "I didn't see any wire in the classrooms. Vernon? Lee?"

The two men returned to the room with worried expressions.

"Lee, tell them! It was the wire!" I pointed to my leg, the wound still covered by my jeans.

"Yeah, it was barbed wire when we went to find the doctor," Lee defended.

I released a breath I didn't realise I'd been holding.

"Let's go," Travis guided me out of the room and away from the apologetic eyes of the others.

We went downstairs in silence and to where we'd left the backpack, which I opened and got the bandages out. I covered the cut which was actually deeper than I'd hoped and looked at my clothes.

"I look a mess," I complained, collapsing onto the sofa.

Travis smiled at me. "You don't look that bad. The zombie-killer look suits you."

I giggled and looked at him. His hair had grown long and his face had splatters of dirt and blood. Under his eyes sat heavy bags, highlighting how sleep deprived he was and his mouth was cut in the corner. His chin had stubble on it from the lack of shaving, although it wasn't as much as Ben. Travis' school jacket had tears in it and seemed more grey than white now, also hinted with blood marks. He still looked far better than me.

"What are you staring at?" He chuckled.

"I'm just admiring your own zombie-killer look."

"You're admiring my looks?" He smirked.

I covered my face with my hands. "I meant that I was comparing us."

"I'm flattered," he mocked playfully.

"Stop picking on me," I moved my hands from my face and Travis sat beside me.

"How come in apocalypse films, the people manage to get new clothes and hardly any blood on them?" He questioned me.

I let out another small laugh. "What happened to you being Mr Serious earlier?"

Travis sighed. "I don't want bad stuff to happen anymore. To the group, I mean. Molly threatened that when she pretended not to have the battery, and I guess I just snapped."

I nodded my head.

"I hate to interrupt," Molly appeared, startling me. "But I'm gonna get going."

I turned my head away from Travis and saw Molly stood nearby.

"Going? Where?" I asked.

"I think it'd be best if I leave. Your group doesn't need any more people, and now Crawford lacks the living, I plan on taking everything I can from there. I'm better by myself."

"You're sure?" Travis checked.

"Positive. You guys stay safe, okay?"

She opened the door and went outside, but I stood and ran after her. "Molly!"

"Wha-"

I threw my arms around her into a hug, which she returned.

"You keep yourself safe," I told her.

"I will."

"Thank you for helping us."

"I'm not good with these goodbyes," she let go of my hug and I could see her eyes had watered a bit.

"Me neither."

"You kind of remind me of my sister, you know?"

My eyes also filled with tears. "Thanks, Molly."

She nodded and walked over to the gate to leave, saying one final thing before vanishing from my sight forever. "Give Travis a kiss from me!"

I blushed and smiled, staring at the gate as it closed. It was strange how there was something about Molly that made me feel like I'd known her for a long time. I remembered my own friends from school, since I had no sisters. One of them resembled Molly in personality, and that might have been why I felt like I was losing someone important again. I decided that it was good to leave Molly now, as I wouldn't need to witness her death, and that was the only good thing I could think of her departure from the group.

I went back inside and over to the backpack near Travis.

"You okay?" He asked, noticing my eyes.

"I'll be fine," I told him, taking my red hoodie from the backpack. "I'm gonna go see Clem and Lee, okay?"

Travis nodded and I went upstairs to where my other friends were.

Lee was sat on a chair resting his head on his hands while Clementine lay on the window seat. I pushed the door open and walked in quietly, smiling slightly at Lee before I heard the young girl's little cries.

"Clem, sweetie?" I walked over and sat on the seat with her. "Everything will be okay."

"I miss my parents," she told me.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, knowing that we didn't have time to look for them. Lee had told me that he doubted they were even alive, and after seeing how infected the city was I agreed. "I lost my family too when this started. But you'll see them again one day, they're not gone forever."

I placed my hoodie over Clementine as a comfort and moved away. Lee nodded his head at me to show he appreciated the gesture of me giving Clem the hoodie and I slightly smiled back, before going back downstairs.

* * *

><p>I finally got a decent sleep during the night, the first proper rest I'd had for a while. I woke up to hear Kenny talking at his usual loud volume. I sat forward on the sofa, making Travis' arms drop slightly from around me.<p>

"What?" I rubbed my eyes. "What's up?"

"Clementine and Lee are missing," he informed me.

"What?!" I gasped, moving abruptly and waking Travis up.

"What's happening?" The boy yawned.

"Lee and Clem," I bolted up from the sofa and ran outside.

"Lee? Clementine?" I called. I noticed the man through the fence and went with the others to him, instantly calmed by recognising him.

"Are you crazy? What are you doing out here?" Kenny asked him as we walked closer. "It ain't safe!"

"Lee, where's Clementine? She's not in the house."

"Vernon ain't in the house either! What the hell is going on?"

"Whose blood is that?" Christa questioned, noticing the marks on Clementine's hat that Lee held.

"It's a walker's. Fucker jumped me from behind," Lee informed us, turning around.

"So where's Clementine?" Kenny wondered.

"And are you okay?" I enquired.

"Clementine's gone. I found her hat and radio on the ground out here. That's all I found."

"There's no chance she just wandered off on her own?" Omid suggested.

"No. No way."

"Then who the hell took her?" Kenny narrowed his eyes.

"I don't know. Last night Vernon came to me and offered to take her with him. Said she'd be better off."

"Son of a bitch. I knew we couldn't trust that fucker," Kenny shot.

"Wherever she is, I have to find her."

"We will," I replied.

He looked around the group. "There's something you should all know."

"What's up?" Travis stepped closer to me a bit, his hand brushing against mine.

"I'm bitten. Walker jumped me while I was out here looking for her."

My stomach twisted and my lungs forgot how to work.

"You... no," I stuttered. "You can't be."

"Oh, God." Christa mumbled.

"No way. No fucking way!" Kenny pointed at Lee.

"I don't know how much time I've got. I'm gonna need your help finding her. Who's with me?"

"We're all responsible for Clementine. And in your condition, you may not make it to her in time. She needs our help. All of our help," Christa decided.

"Damn right, we can't let you do this alone," Omid agreed.

I couldn't process what was happening as I stared at Lee's wrist that had a bite mark on it.

"Thanks, you guys. I appreciate it. Really."

"I'm in," Kenny said.

"Ben?" Travis questioned.

"Now hang on a damn minute! I'm not going if this shitbird is too. Lee, if you want Clementine back alive you'll leave him behind- he fucks up everything he touches!" Kenny argued.

"Can we not argue now?" I begged, my voice almost inaudible.

"Ben, I'm sorry, but I need Kenny on this. Maybe you should stay with the boat."

"Okay," Ben sighed. "Sure."

"Just don't fuckin' lay a finger on it, y'hear?" Kenny ordered.

"Okay guys, we should go find Vernon, see if he took her. Let's head out."

We went to walk, until Omid made another point. "Are we okay just leaving the boat like this? With only Ben to look after it?"

"What choice do we have?" Christa questioned him.

"Maybe Marceline and Travis-"

"No!" I yelled. "I'm going."

I couldn't stay behind. I was too worried about losing Lee to the walker bite.

"If anything has happened to that boat when we get back, I will fucking bury you in that back yard. Are we clear?" Kenny checked with Ben, who just stood looking sad and miserable. I was kind of worried about him.

Everybody went to walk and I flashed a smile at Ben briefly. "You'll be okay."

He nodded and forced a smile back, then I ran to catch up with the group. We had to find Clementine, especially before the bite took over Lee.

* * *

><p>Lee guided us underground to where he knew Vernon was hiding out with the rest of his group. My heart raced as Lee got his gun out and readied it before flinging the door open and bursting into the room... which was empty.<p>

"Where the hell are they?" Lee asked.

We all walked forward and scanned the room.

"Looks like they got out of here in a hurry," Kenny observed.

Lee walked forward. "Vernon! Get out here! There doesn't have to be any trouble here, all I want is the girl! Give her back and nobody needs to get hurt."

There was no response. The room was so silent it was uncomfortable. Lee rested his head in his hands, leaning over one of the counters in the room.

A dull roar suddenly approached, getting louder. Everybody turned to the small windows, seeing the shadows move past.

"Walkers," I whispered.

Then the walkie talkie beeped, and a little voice spoke. "Lee?"

"Clementine?" He replied, grabbing the talkie and speaking into it. "Are you alright? Where are you?!... Vernon, you son of a bitch!"

"Hello, Lee."

That wasn't Vernon.

"Who is this?"

"It's not Vernon, if that's what you're thinking. And you should really watch your tone. Clementine's fine, but I was you I'd choose my next words veeeery carefully."

Lee lifted the walkie talkie to his mouth, his face flashing so many different emotions at once; anxiety, sadness, rage, determination. He pressed the button to speak.

"Fuck," I whispered.

* * *

><p><strong>Suspense! I loved the scene in the game when this happens, I don't know why. It's just clever! Okay I know this was very heavy on the game dialogue, but I hope people understand that it's fairly difficult to incorporate new characters and text into a game when I'm keeping the original plot :') <strong>

**In another bit of news, I'm writing another Walking Dead game fic! Quite excited about it, to be honest. New characters and its season 2 based, so hopefully that will be uploading in the new year! **

**Once again, I thank you all so much for taking your time reading this. When writing it, I wasn't sure if it would even get many views so you have all made me so happy. Thank you, see you Wednesday! **


	16. Time

"What do you want from me?" Lee pleaded for answers to the man on the talkie. "Whatever it is, I'll do it and you can let her go."

"I want you to never hurt anybody again. This isn't a kidnapping, Lee."

"Then what is it?"

"A rescue."

Lee lowered the talkie and clipped it back to his jeans without another word. I wasn't sure if the others could tell, but I saw the fright and anger in his eyes, as well as sadness for the idea of losing Clementine. I walked to the man and placed my hand on his arm.

"Clem will be okay," I stated.

"Don't worry, pal. We'll get her back," Kenny reassured Lee.

I hoped he was right.

"How's that feeling?" Christa asked, regarding the bite.

Lee shrugged.

There was growling behind us and then walkers appeared. Kenny and Travis quickly got the door shut, making sure the walkers couldn't reach us. Everything was happening so quickly. That was the thing about the apocalypse- it could be incredibly boring a lot of the time, but the next minute you would be fighting for your life.

"Lee, we need to find a way out of here," I said.

He agreed and we went to look around quickly, leaving Christa and Omid to help defend the door.

I ran up to the back of the room, finding another door immediately. "Lee!"

He walked over to where I was and smiled. "I found this. We could try it to pry the elevator door open."

"Great."

I stepped back while he got to work, using the rib spreader to open the doors as best he could. He groaned in pain.

"Are you okay?" I checked.

He didn't reply, just turned around, swayed and collapsed.

"Help!" I shouted to the others.

Travis was the first one over, knife in his hand and staring at Lee on the floor.

"What happened?"

"Fuck, is he alive?" Kenny asked.

"Shit."

"He fainted, we need to do something!" I begged.

"Marce, there's nothing we can do," Kenny told me.

I thought about it for a second, brain rushing with possibilities until I found one.

"There's something we could try, though," I sighed. "Help me move him."

* * *

><p>"Okay. This has to be done," Kenny listened to my suggestion and agreed on it. I felt bad for if it went wrong. "Sorry, pal. I gotta do it."<p>

"Don't kill me!" Lee gasped, waking up on the table in fear.

I shrieked in fright. "Fuck!"

"Stop! He's awake," Christa told Kenny.

"He's still bitten!"

"So?!" Christa challenged.

"This is about trying to save him! At the very least, buy him some time."

"By chopping his arm off?" Omid muttered.

Lee looked at us in confusion.

"Marceline had an idea to try and help you," Travis explained. "She thought that if we chop your arm off, the infection won't spread. Or it'll be delayed. I think it'll work."

"We don't have to do it if you don't want to," I reassured the man.

"Fuck it," Lee said. "Cut it off."

"Seriously?" Christa asked, shocked.

"Yeah."

Lee set his arm on the side ready to be cut off.

Kenny looked unsettled. "It was easier when I thought he was out."

Travis groaned out loud, grabbed the weapon and placed it on Lee's arm ready to cut it. I thought back to when Travis was squeamish and threw up at the sight of my gunshot wound. We'd all been forced to change and adapt.

"Stay still."

"Be quick," Lee pleaded.

Travis cut into his arm with a quick motion.

Lee cried out in pain, screaming until he blacked out. I turned away, not wanting to watch as the man lost his arm.

* * *

><p>"Lee?" I whispered. "Guys, he's awake."<p>

Lee blinked, sitting up and looking at where his arm used to be.

"Holy hell, we thought maybe we lost you. You been out a while, man," Kenny told him.

"It hurts so bad," Lee confessed. "But maybe now I've got more time."

"Hopefully," I smiled. "Come on, we need to get out of here and find Clem."

Lee nodded and we all headed to the elevator which was now open. I followed behind Christa as we climbed up the ladder, while Lee went last as to not get any blood on anybody, still taking cautions incase he hadn't gained any time.

We eventually reached the roof and I took a deep breath of fresh air.

"Remember when Savannah was empty?" Kenny asked us as we looked out over the city from the hospital roof.

"Those Crawford bastards did one thing right, I guess," Christa responded.

"I've never seen so many walkers in the street," Travis noted.

"They didn't follow us here, did they?" Omid thought.

"It sure seems like it."

"Can we get back to the matter at hand, here?" I enquired. "We need to figure out how to cross town. We'll also have to make sure Lee is managing as we go."

They nodded.

"I have an idea," Travis smiled. "We need to ring the bell and get the walkers here. Then we can cross town, hopefully easier."

"There's a ladder," Omid pointed to it, and Lee carried it to the tower.

"Okay, I'll go," I volunteered and moved forward to get to the ladder, until an arm stopped me.

"It should be the guy who's got the least to lose," Lee stated. "What's the worst that could happen, I get bitten again?"

"Don't talk like that," I said, staring at him.

Lee made an apologetic face, though it just made me feel more guilty considering he was the one who's life was at risk, not me.

Lee made his way across the ladder dangerously. I bit my lip for the whole time, nervous. The ladder shook and Lee ran, diving up onto the tower before the steps plummeted into the street and crushed a walker.

"Holy shit, man!" Omid gasped.

"Are you okay?" Christa shouted to him.

"Yeah, I'm fine!"

My heart rate increased with worry and then Lee rang the bell in the tower. I looked down over the building edge and saw the walkers begin to stir in the roads.

"They're moving!"

"Tons of them. Jesus," Omid's eyes went huge.

"How are you getting back over here?" Travis asked.

"I think I have to jump! There's no way back!"

"You can make it!" Kenny motivated. "It ain't that far."

He did. Lee ran, threw himself across the gap between the buildings and pulled himself up the wall.

"Good goddamn leap, pal!"

I grinned at the man, amazed he'd managed to make the jump.

"We should head back at get Ben," Travis said. "We could use all the help we can get now."

"I ain't bringin' him with us!" Kenny snapped.

"Can we save the arguments?" I returned. "We need to find Clementine, and that means we check the house again and get Ben. Come on."

The group shared glances before we all made our way back to the house.

* * *

><p>"Come on... please..." a voice begged inside the shed.<p>

A shovel was slotted through the handles.

"Ben?" I knocked on the door, pulling the shovel out of the handle and opening it.

Ben stood near the door of the shed. The empty shed. The shed that was lacking a boat that should have been protected by Ben.

"What are you doing?!" Kenny yelled.

"Don't get mad... the boat's gone," Ben alerted us like we were blind.

"No shit it's gone!" Kenny's anger became more evident.

"Relax. Ben, what happened?" Christa calmed.

"They were waiting for me in here."

"Who?!" I gasped.

"Vernon. His whole crew!"

"Was Clementine with them?" Lee demanded quickly.

"No. He seemed pissed you guys lost her and... well, they took it. They're gone."

"Ben, you are worthless!" Kenny yelled.

"Kenny," I warned.

Ben blocked out the comment and instead looked at Lee. "What happened to your arm?"

"We cut it off!" Kenny wouldn't let himself be ignored. "Ben, I could just kill you right now!"

"Kenny, stop it!" I ordered. "It wasn't his fault."

"I can't believe you didn't even put up a fight."

"You don't know what Ben did here," I defended.

Omid disappeared to open the gate.

"This is not happening. Everything is so fucked," Kenny sighed.

"Clementine is still out there," Christa stated.

"So we get Clementine, and then what?"

"We get the fuck out of this city," Travis decided.

"I am done with cities," Christa agreed.

"Me too."

"We could go to the countryside," I suggested. "Lots of open space and probably lacking walkers."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea to me," Ben nodded his head.

"Nobody asked you," Kenny shot.

"You just did!" Ben snapped.

"Don't get fucking smart with me, Ben," Kenny warned. "Do you remember when we had a boat? A boat!"

"Get over it!"

"Will you guys keep your voices down?" I hissed.

"We can do this in the yard," Christa told the group as Omid opened the door on the other side. We walked through into the safety of the house and closed the door to keep walkers away.

"Where the hell do you get off?" Kenny prodded Ben.

"I'm just saying we should all chill," Ben replied, sounding scared. "Not just you."

"Chill?!" Kenny repeated.

"Kenny," I warned again.

"This isn't my fault," Ben looked angry again.

"I can't point to one thing that's happened that isn't somehow your fault!" Kenny accused him.

"Please stop," I almost begged. Arguing and accusations were the least thing we needed.

The two males stared at each other in silence for a few seconds.

"Lee should have left you in Crawford."

"Fuck you, Kenny!" Ben suddenly roared, making me stumble back in shock and everyone else turn their heads in surprise at the boy's outburst.

"Whoa, Ben," Lee gasped.

Christa reached a hand in front of Lee. "No, let him."

"I am so, so, so sorry about Katjaa and Duck, I am. And I know I fucked up, but stop pushing me around and stop wishing I was dead!"

Kenny went to open his mouth.

"No! You know how they died. You've said goodbye. I never got to see my family, my parents, my little sister. You get that? Your family is gone, but at least you had them to lose. I never made it home. They could be alive or dead or walkers or worse, and I don't know! So give me a fucking break!"

"Aw, Ben, I'm-"

"Walkers!" Travis alerted.

"Oh, shit, here they come!"

"In the house!"

We rushed inside, Lee closing the door behind us.

"They shouldn't be able to get in the backyard, right?" Kenny checked. There was a crash outside. "Maybe not."

"We need to barricade the door or something," I rushed.

Lee agreed and began distributing orders to everybody while I attempted to move some furniture with Travis to block the back door.

"Front door!" Lee suddenly yelled.

There were walkers. A lot of them.

Everybody ran and blocked it, Travis too. Lee fell to the floor. A walker had his leg. My heart raced, panic filling my veins and making me feel like I was going to pass out.

"Quick!"

I looked at the kitchen, spotting the butcher's knife and swiping it before running to the rescue.

I chopped the arms of the walkers at the door without any thoughts and the others slammed it shut, providing a barrier. Lee had managed to break free too.

Travis stared at me wide eyed as I held the knife tight in my hands looking manic.

"Now what?" He asked nobody in particular.

"We should go upstairs, try find some way out of this house. It's not going to last much longer," I decided.

As soon as I finished speaking, a window smashed through and walkers poured into the house.

"Get upstairs!" Lee commanded.

Everyone did as instructed, and I went to follow, passing the knife to Lee. I spotted my backpack and swiped it up quickly before racing up the stairs and joining the others.

"Everyone get to the end of the hallway," Christa said while Lee joined Kenny in pushing furniture in front of the stairs.

"What do we do now?!" Ben asked.

"This'll slow 'em down," Kenny replied. "We get to the end of the hallway and take a fucking stand."

"We're going to be trapped if we stay crammed into this hall!" Travis shouted.

The walkers appeared and everybody with guns fired them until the bullets were out. My hands shook despite my attempts to stay composed. The truth was that I was utterly terrified. We were trapped and out of places to go. We were going to die and Clementine would be left with the kidnapper. I hoped she would escape if we died. I hoped she wouldn't see us as walkers.

"Fuck!" I gasped, realising how helpless we were.

There was a noise behind me and I turned to see Lee pull down a ladder from the ceiling. "Go!"

We raced up the ladder and into the attic I had forgotten existed, narrowly missing the walkers that crossed into the hallway and reached for us. The door slammed shut, separating the monsters from the living.

* * *

><p><strong>So we're nearing the ending of the story soon. Please don't forget to review if you can, because I love hearing what you guys think of the chapters, characters and what is going to happen next. Have a nice week, I'll see you on Saturday for the next update! <strong>


	17. Trapped

I leaned against the wall of the attic, closing my eyes.

"That could've gone better."

"Everyone okay?"

"Nobody got bit?"

"Lee's still bitten."

"Shut up."

I tried to regulate my breathing, calming my pounding heart.

"Okay, let's get out of here and keep movin'."

"Kid's right; we gotta keep moving. Think there's any chance we get Clem and catch up to those goddamn thieves?"

"I don't know. Maybe."

"Well we're not going out through this window. No latches, no roof access, and thirty feet straight down."

"Anyone have any ideas?"

"I bet this guy would. He's got a resourceful air about him."

A hand softly touched my shoulder. "You okay, Marcey?"

"Knock it off."

"Dixon Kent the third. Industria-"

"Omid!"

"Christa. I'm just trying to lighten the fucking tone."

"We need solutions! Not stupid jokes."

I let out a small groan. There were so many voices speaking that I couldn't even think properly. All I wanted to do was breathe and find Clem. That was the priority, and looking after her would be the main concern.

"I'm sorry."

"We need to look around. It's not necessarily true that we're trapped up here," that was Travis, the only voice I'd really listened to.

"We're no use to Clementine dead."

"We need to do something," I whispered, turning to face the group.

"So it's decided. We search the place and-"

"Lee? Lee? Lee!" A small voice made my eyes snap open. "I'm okay. I'm where my parents - oh no!"

"Clementine," I gasped.

"She's at the hotel where her parents were staying. He hasn't moved her," Lee spoke.

"Yet," Kenny commented.

"Yeah," Christa agreed. "Yet."

"We need to find her," I pushed myself off the wall.

"Like right this goddamn minute!" Lee joined.

"Let's look around," Travis repeated again. "Find a way out of this place."

Kenny frowned at Lee's arm. "I think we need to have an adult conversation about what happens if Lee takes another spill."

"Kenny-"

"We could be looking at a Larry situation here," Kenny continued.

I remembered the angry man who never returned from the dairy farm.

"Who's Larry?" Christa enquired.

"It don't matter," Kenny brushed the question off.

"He looks fine to me," Omid stated.

"Why the fuck are we having this conversation?" I snapped, rage filling me. "I'm so sick of the group fighting all of the fucking time for no reason. Lee was bitten, yeah, but for now that's not a problem. Our main concern is getting out of here and finding Clementine. That's what Lee wants and that's what the rest of us want, so that's what we're gonna fucking do!"

Everyone stared as I held my hands in fists.

"You're gonna listen to me!" Kenny demanded, approaching me with narrowed eyes. "We will get Clementine back, but Lee may die and-"

"No!" I screamed, hating the thought. "We are not going to talk about how Lee is a dead man when he's perfectly fine! Stop trying to cause shit!"

"This is stupid," Travis stepped between Kenny and I. "We need to stay calm about this."

"Calm!" I laughed, a bit like a mad woman. "Calm in an apocalypse, that's a fucking brilliant joke."

"Marcey," he put a hand out to me.

I stared at it, suddenly overwhelmed with a dozen emotions. I turned and kicked the wall with all of my strength, getting rid of the anger.

I stared at the hole in the wall, ignoring the intense pain I now felt in my foot.

"Did you play soccer?" Omid asked, a smile playing on his face.

"Shut up, sweetie. Look," Christa said.

I stepped back while Kenny investigated the broken wall. I tried to ignore Travis and Ben watching me and looked at the floor.

"It's corroded to hell."

"What's on the other side of this wall, a thirty foot drop?"

"The mansion next door," Travis answered. "They're connected. We should take turns breaking through the wall."

The group agreed and Kenny went first. Lee, Christa and Omid went to sit together on some sofas while Ben went to sit alone. I went to the opposite side of the room, sitting down on the floor and closing my eyes.

There was a shuffling sound next to me and then a voice.

"Are you okay?"

I opened my eyes and looked at Travis. "I didn't mean what I said. I'm..."

"It's okay."

"I'm sorry. I don't like to admit it, Trav, but I'm fucking terrified."

His arms wrapped around my shoulders.

"You're okay. We all are. We'll find Clem, I promise."

"I hope so. Are you okay?"

"I guess, not so sure about Ben though."

I looked over at the boy, who stared into nothingness.

"I didn't really think about how much he missed his family," Travis admitted. "I try to not think of mine."

"Yeah, me too."

"What... What happened to them?" He tried.

I bit my lip as Lee walked over to us, sitting down on the floor near and resting against the wall. I knew both of them enough to speak of it, so I did.

"My parents ... I'll start from the beginning. I was just outside, playing with the dog as usual. I remember the sun was so hot and I was in such a good mood. The bad neighbour I had, well they started hitting on the fence that separated our houses. I figured it was because I was making too much noise and the dog was barking, but then the fence broke down. I was so confused, I just stared at her but... She wasn't the neighbour anymore. She attacked but Sammi ran at her and defended me. While she did that, I grabbed a hammer from the shed and I just hit the neighbour over the head. I don't remember her name. I wouldn't want to."

"Sounds similar to my story," Lee sighed. "Clem saved me from her sitter who had turned."

"It's good to have people look out for you in a world like ours," Travis stated. "What about the rest?"

"My parents were out at work and that was just it. They never came back. I walked through Macon trying to find them for days when it started. I found my dad's car with its windows smashed. I didn't find much else but walkers until I met Lee."

Lee smiled slightly at me and I returned it.

"I'm glad you did."

"Me too."

Lee stood up and moved away to speak to other people, leaving Travis and I alone to listen to the sound of the wall breaking down. Omid had swapped places with Kenny at this point.

"Do you think we'll get out through there?" I wondered to my friend.

He shrugged.

"We need to get to Clementine."

Travis looked at Lee and remained silent.

"What are you thinking?" I asked, turning more so I faced him.

"I was wondering what's going to happen to Clem, who's going to look after her?"

"Lee will," I narrowed my eyes, hoping he wasn't getting at what I thought.

Travis didn't speak.

"Travis, tell me what you mean. I won't shout."

He hesitated before explaining. "Lee was bitten, Marcey. I don't think we cut that arm off in time. Look at him. He's coughing and he looks like he's overheating, and I'm sure the stress of Clementine going missing isn't helping at all. Maybe it bought him some time, but I don't think we've saved him in all honesty."

I tried to prevent tears.

"Clem is going to need someone to look out for her like Lee does."

"I know," I whispered. "But... Lee and Clem should decide."

"Yeah, okay."

"I'm through!" Omid exclaimed. We all stood and gathered around while he looked through the hole in the wall. "No walkers. Things are looking up."

One by one, we crawled through the gap and entered the room on the other side.

"Everyone keep a goddamn eye out," Kenny ordered.

I walked around and my eyes fell onto two bodies on the bed.

"Oh, God..."

The group approached and we all observed the two people who had self inflicted gunshots through their heads and their hands held together.

"At least they got to end it together," Travis sighed.

I turned away and went to the window, looking out over the streets.

"We should move," Omid stated.

"Yeah," Christa agreed.

Kenny picked up the gun from the deceased man's hand. "Got at least one shot left."

Everyone began searching the room for an exit and supplies.

"You okay, kid?"

I turned to face Lee and shrugged. "Apocalypse is taking its toll on me."

"Yeah." He absently looked at where one of his arms cut off.

"I'm scared for Clementine."

"Me too," he sadly stared at the floor. "But we'll find her. We have to."

I took a deep breath. "Let's get moving then."

Lee smiled slightly and we went to investigate a white door on the far end of the room.

"Might be the way out," Lee suggested, twisting the handle and opening it.

It lead to a small balcony opposite a building.

"You think we could make that jump?" I wondered.

"Looks like we can stay off the streets all the way to River Street if we're careful," Kenny pointed out.

"Let's go."

"Shouldn't someone else go first?" I asked as Lee moved forward.

"We don't know how safe this balcony is to jump," Lee shook his head. "I should try it first to make sure it's safe."

I wasn't happy with that answer, but let the man go anyway. The tall man stood up on the balcony rails and threw himself across the drop, reaching the roof safely and smiling at us.

Omid followed, then Christa. Kenny stepped forward until Travis stopped him.

"Don't you think Marcey should go next?"

"He can go first," I folded my arms. "I'm in no rush to cross that gap."

Kenny did go next, but there was a creaking while he jumped.

"What was that?" I stepped forward onto the balcony and felt the weight shift under my feet. I tried another step and it moved even further.

"Marceline, come back right now," Travis calmly instructed.

"I can't move," I froze.

I looked up to see the group on the roof wide eyed and watching me.

"Marcey you have to walk back or jump. The balcony is going to fall."

"I can't move."

"Give me your hand, Marceline," Travis reached out.

"Marceline," Ben suddenly appeared very slowly alongside me. "Come on, let's get off this balcony."

I nodded my head, heart racing.

He put a hand on my back and gently pushed me back inside the building.

The balcony creaked. Ben looked at us with his eyes huge.

"Ben-"

The balcony fell, along with the boy.

* * *

><p><strong>Broke my heart writing about Ben's fall. I did wonder how to approach this scene, so I hope I've done it okay. <strong>

**You all know we're nearing the end of the story, and now the reviews are suggesting you guys want this to continue into season 2... So you're just gonna have to wait for the ending! **

**Thank you so much for the reviews you've all given, especially s0ul-spir1t for the repeat reviews! Also big thanks to Lizeyli for your review, I loved your suggestions and I'm so glad you've enjoyed the story so far. :) **

**See you all on Wednesday for the final chapters... Yes, chapters! x**


	18. Rescue

"Holy fuck!" Omid cried out. "What are we gonna do?"

I wriggled out of Travis' arms that had grabbed my waist just as the balcony collapsed.

"Ben!" I looked down from the roof, almost stumbling over the edge as I went.

Kenny and I met each others gaze. I shook my head, seeing the sadness in his eyes. He nodded once and smiled a soft, apologetic smile. He raced down off the roof using ladders on the side of the building.

"Kenny and I have got this," Lee told everyone.

"What are we gonna do?" Travis questioned. "I need to go help Ben too."

"And me," I decided.

"You guys can't do anything but jump across this gap somehow. Kenny and I will get Ben and make sure he's okay. Focus on getting yourselves safe first."

I sighed in defeat.

"If all this goes wrong," Lee looked sad. "You might be Clementine's last hope."

Lee moved down the ladder and vanished from sight.

"I'm gonna throw you across," Travis told me.

I laughed. "No, you most definitely are not."

"I can do it!"

"Travis, how do you intend on getting across?"

"I... I'll stay here, I guess."

"No!" I punched him in the arm. "I'm not fucking leaving you, not now. We can't lose any more people or risk it, and it's not going to be you."

Travis stared. "We can... we can both jump. If we don't make it, then at least it'll be together. Right?"

I thought about it, then nodded my head. There was no other option. "Let's go."

We went back to the other end of the room. My heart hammered against my chest and I took Travis' hand. "Ready?"

He turned to face me and studied my face for a second. "Let's do this."

We ran, jumped, and soared across the space. Somewhere mid-flight, our hands released each other to grab onto our safety wall. My skin tore as it collided with the brick and I was helped up by Christa. I struggled to get my breath back, looking to my side and seeing Travis lifting himself up over the side. He grinned at me, and I grinned back and then we started laughing. It was almost unbelievable.

"I can't believe we just di-"

There was a gunshot.

We all paused.

Lee ascended the ladder.

"What happened?" Christa demanded.

Lee moved away. "I couldn't do anything. Ben was really... messed up. Kenny couldn't leave him. It was just fucked."

We stood in silence. My eyes filled with tears. Kenny. Ben.

Lee covered his face and I hugged him.

"And the gunshot?" Travis enquired, his voice emotionless.

"Kenny made sure that he didn't feel any more pain than he had to."

"What?" Omid spoke as in disbelief.

"It was Ben's biggest fear, y'know? Kenny had one bullet left, and that's how he used it."

I let my tears flow, and Lee wrapped his arm around me into a hug.

"We should go," Christa said after a while.

"Right behind you."

* * *

><p>We walked along the rooftops. I trailed behind Lee, Travis walking beside me.<p>

I couldn't stop thinking of how the last words I'd shared with Kenny were arguments of pure rage. I regretted it so much. My parents had always told me arguments weren't worth it because there could be a day when I wouldn't be able to apologise. Today was that day, and I hated it.

I also couldn't forget that Ben had gave up his own life to make sure I got back to safety. Lee had said that Ben was 'messed up', though didn't elaborate and I was glad. I hoped he wasn't in pain when he died. Ben had done some stupid things, but he was part of the group and was my friend.

I wiped the tears from my eyes.

"Look, Lee, I know this is a shitty time, but I need to clear something up," Christa spoke. We'd been in silence for a long time.

"What is it?"

"Clementine." We stopped walking. "I know Kenny was your guy."

"We're not gonna die. All of us will look after Clem," I said in a calm voice.

Lee nodded and we continued walking.

There was a panel of wood crossing between the building we were on and another. I opted to go first, stepping carefully to make sure it was safe. I made it to the other side, followed closely by Christa and Omid. Lee waited with Travis, exchanging words in hushed voices for a few seconds while making sure we got across.

"Come on, River Street won't be far from here," I waved to the them.

Travis cautiously stepped on the panel, arms out wide to his sides like he was very unbalanced.

"You're okay," Lee reassured him. "I'm right behind you."

"I hate heights, I hate heights, I hate heights," he repeated. "I hate heights even more when I'm crossing them on an unsteady piece of wood."

"You jumped out of a building with me before," I folded my arms.

"That was different, I was with you," he muttered.

"Well hurry and you'll be with me again."

Travis did as I told and practically leaped with joy as his feet touched the building roof.

"Good job," Christa sarcastically said. "Now can we get going?"

The white stone building came to an end eventually, a huge gap above what was once a main road blocking our route to where we hoped Clementine was.

"Well, fuck," Travis sighed.

The street was littered with walkers. I stepped closer to the edge and examined a metal sign that was the only bridge to the other side.

"I think this is safe."

"Are you sure?" Omid checked.

"Almost positive. I'll go first."

"There's no way in hell I'm letting you cross that thing," Travis laughed.

I narrowed my eyes.

"Omid has a busted leg, Christa's walkin' for two, you and Travis have already risked your lives enough today. I'm obviously not doing so hot. Decision doesn't make itself." Lee looked back over the metal sign. "I'll go first."

"Lee, be careful," I worried as he went to climb down.

"I will."

The man began pulling himself along the sign towards the next building and closer to Clementine.

"Just go nice and slow!"

"Almost there," the man called back. "It's an easy crossing."

"Great, keep going!" I smiled.

Travis grabbed my hand suddenly, I snapped my head at him in surprise and saw his eyes full of panic. I turned back to the sign quickly, just as it began to break.

"Shit!"

"Ah, fuck!"

Lee lifted himself to the part still attached to the building and looked back at us.

"Are you okay?" Omid shouted.

"Fine, but I'm kinda fucked here."

"What do we do?" I asked. This could not be happening.

There was a long pause. Lee looked back at me. "You guys need to get out of here. I'll go get Clem. Let's meet outside of town, by the train!"

"Lee, that mission is suicide!" I criticized.

"It's the only way."

"Jesus.. we'll be there," Christa said.

Lee began to move again as Christa and Omid turned back to find another way down from the roof.

"Lee!"

"What's wrong?" He looked back.

"Please be careful, and make sure neither of you get hurt." I ignored the lump in my throat.

"I will, I promise. I'll see you soon, okay kid?"

I nodded, biting my lip. "See you real soon."

He smiled, and then began to descend the building.

* * *

><p>We walked for a long time. Walkers were difficult to avoid, but somehow we managed it. I didn't speak for the whole journey to the train, instead thinking about everything that had happened in such a short time.<p>

We'd lost so many people. More people than I could have ever imagined when I was walking through those streets of Macon, back where Lee welcomed me to the group and saved me from my inevitable death-by-zombies. Everything was so fucked up. What had happened?

I chewed my lip while we walked through an alleyway.

"The train shouldn't be far from here," I heard Omid say to Christa and Travis as I trailed behind.

"You really think they're going to make it?" Christa asked in a barely audible whisper. "Lee is bitten and has one arm, Clementine may not even be alive, and God knows what her kidnapper is capable of, not to mention the thousands of corpses running around the streets."

"Let's not talk about this."

"Lee wanted Marceline to look after Clem."

"What?" I gasped. They stayed in silence, realising I'd heard their conversation.

"Lee told me that Kenny was going to be the one to look after Clem, and failing that, it'd be you," Christa explained.

I let the tears flow from my eyes. "Why?"

"He said you knew you could handle yourself well, and you've looked out for her a hell of a lot." The woman didn't look impressed with his decision, but I couldn't help a small smile of joy.

"They'll be okay," I wiped the tears from my eyes and let myself smile. "Lee will get them both out of there alive and we'll see them in no time."

"Yeah," Travis smiled back and I took his hand as we walked, the town coming to an end.

We walked over hills and towards the train. I demanded that we stopped every few minutes to give Lee and Clem a chance to catch up, but they were nowhere in sight.

"Do... do you think they made it?" Omid wondered.

"Lee would do anything to keep Clementine safe," I told him confidently. "I'm sure they're fine. Let's stop and wait again."

"Omid and I will carry on walking in case they've beaten us to the train," Christa said.

"That sounds good."

The couple walked ahead while Travis and I observed the hills for movement.

"I wish they'd hurry up and get here," I sighed. "I'm getting worried."

"Lee is smart, he'll have figured something out to get Clem back. She's clever too, and she knows how to use a gun now."

"Yeah. I... I really hope Lee is okay."

Travis looked away to the ground. I knew what he was thinking. I knew he was right.

"C'mon," he said, putting a hand on my shoulder to guide me away. "Let's walk."

We began to move, but I couldn't help looking behind me again. Then a small figure came into my view. I hoped it was who I thought, but the only thing missing was the man who saved me, became my friend and one of the people I trusted most when the world was in chaos. Logic told me not to expect him to come back. There was no way he could have managed with one arm and the fever of the transformation. He already looked sick when we left him.

The small figure picked up speed, moving towards us quicker and I knew. I saw the familiar red hoodie and the hat and I knew who it was.

"Clementine!"

* * *

><p><strong>And the story ends. <strong>

**I'm starting the sequel now, so keep your eyes peeled for that! I don't know how long it's going to be until it's posted, because I will likely write it all and then post during editing as I did with this so I can check continuity and stuff. **

**Again, thank you everyone for reading and reviewing, you have all made me feel so much better about my writing :). **

**The next chapter: Alternate Ending **


	19. Alternate Ending

...

"They'll be okay," I wiped the tears from my eyes and let myself smile. "Lee will get them both out of there alive and we'll see them in no time."

"Yeah," Travis smiled back and I took his hand as we walked, the town coming to an end.

"Shit!" Omid cried.

I spotted the walker that had grabbed Omid and reacted as quick as I could, pushing it with all of my force away from the man so it hit the floor.

"Kill it!" I commanded.

Travis looked around frantically, grabbing the nearest object which was the lid of a dustbin. He hit the walker with it over the head until it stopped fighting.

"Guys, there are more!"

A group of five walked out from one of the building doors and poured into the alleyway. We turned and went to run back in the opposite direction.

"More of them!" I noticed, as they began to trap us, blocking both our exit routes.

"Oh my God, this is it. We're going to die," Travis realised.

"No, we're not!" I pointed to an old, rusted ladder that went up one of the walls and onto a balcony. "Go!"

Christa and Omid ran to the ladder, but abruptly stopped before going any further.

"Aren't you coming?" Christa asked, her voice full of stress and panic.

"Right behind you, you need to get safe first though," Travis informed.

The couple quickly climbed the ladder while Travis and I waited. It didn't look steady enough to carry all of our weight at once, and barely looked or sounded like it was coping with just the couple.

"We're not going to make it," I said calmly to Travis as the walkers got even closer.

"I know," he whispered.

The ladder creaked and then began to unhinge itself from the wall, falling forwards so it hit the other building and narrowly missed our heads.

"Find another way!" Christa instructed, her voice shaking.

"It's okay!" My heart raced. It wasn't okay. Not at all. "Please take care of Clementine."

"Travis, Marcey get the fuck out of that alleyway!" Omid shouted at us.

"There's nowhere to go now," Travis yelled back. "Just go, go to Clem. Stay safe."

"Say goodbye to Clem and Lee for me," I sobbed.

I heard Omid cry. Christa nodded, and I thought she looked like she was crying. Maybe it was my own blurred vision and the distance between us on the ground and them on the roof. The couple disappeared from sight. They were safe, they'd keep Clementine safe, they'd make sure Lee was okay. They'd say goodbye for me.

I turned to Travis. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"Supporting me. Being my friend."

I wrapped my arms around him, and he did the same to me, burying his face in my hair.

"I can't believe our stories end like this," he said, voice heavy with emotion.

"This isn't our ending," I comforted, tears streaming down my face. "Not really."

I glanced past Travis to see the walkers getting closer. They were close enough now that they could reach us in just a few steps.

My mind rushed to think of my family, my dog, Kenny, Ben, Carley, Katjaa, Duck... everyone I had lost. I thought of the good things, the people who still had a chance. Christa, Omid, Clementine... Maybe Lee, too.

"See you real soon, guys," I whispered to myself.

I kept my eyes tight shut as the walkers gathered around Travis and I, engulfing us. I hoped he kept his eyes shut too.

* * *

><p><strong> Thank you so much everyone for all the reviews, follows, favourites and views. You're all amazing and I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did writing it. <strong>

**So it's a final update from me on this story. **

**Don't forget to keep looking out for the sequel and let me know in the reviews what you thought about the endings... which one was better? **

**See you soon guys xx**


End file.
